N Not everything is bad for American automakers, even though the US Department of Commerce is currently reviewing whether they are so vulnerable to import competition in existence that America’s security interests would be threatened. Because President Donald Trump has given the audit mandate, one can count on protective measures at the expense of mainly European automakers. It would not be the first.
The formulation of a legitimizing report poses a certain challenge because American automakers are already well protected in a fast-growing market segment by import duties of 25 percent: Who wants to sell pick-up trucks in the United States, since 1965 with an extraordinary high duty of 25 percent. The American president Lyndon B. Johnson had waived tariffs against European manufacturers in retaliation for European trade barriers for chickens.
The prehistory is quickly told: In 1962, the European Community had imposed duties on imports of American chickens, which became increasingly popular in Europe. The Dutch, even ambitious laying battery operators, imputed dumping to the Americans. The Germans spread the speculation that America’s farmers would feed the poultry with arsenic and the French also found arguments against American chickens to protect their own peasants.
Volkswagen and domestic politics
When all diplomacy failed, the retaliation came, which was exceptionally high: 25 percent on imported pick-up trucks or cargo area vans. The draconian customs followed mainly domestic political reasons. The American auto unions were particularly concerned about the competition Volkswagen , The Germans increasingly successfully sold the small trucks with cargo area in the United States. Johnson, in turn, needed the unions for his civil rights policy. So the deal was made at the expense of the German auto industry, which helped to secure a large market share for American producers.
For a while, foreign competitors tried to circumvent customs legislation by rebuilding or finishing semi-finished vehicles in America. The Germans play no role in the pick-up market, the Japanese companies now produce the vehicles of this model class in American plants.
The European idea that this is a niche market is quite wrong. For more and more Americans, the vans have become practical family cars. They are becoming more popular every year. 650,000 of these models were sold in the first three months of this year, and thus more than all other passenger classes outside the so-called Crossovers.
Of the twenty most successful vehicles in the US market in terms of sales, the pick-up series of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors were among the top four. The Americans are thus protecting one of the most important car market segments for them with draconian taxes.
Incidentally, as far as the chickens are concerned, there is still no transatlantic agreement, as evidenced not least by the debate on chlorophylls.