A tale of two responses to Chinese automotive competition.
The EU has concluded that a zero-sum response will accelerate the decline of its legacy automakers.
Instead, it is permitting Chinese automotive manufacturing on European soil (see chart) in the hope of preserving what remains of its industrial ecosystem, retaining jobs, know-how, and supply chain relevance.
The U.S., by contrast, appears to favor a “Galápagos Strategy”: protecting domestic manufacturers behind tariff walls while they become progressively less competitive in global markets.
That approach may delay painful adjustments and reduce political pressure in the short term.
But over the longer term, Ford and GM face a larger risk: the erosion of their international businesses in markets where U.S. tariffs offer no protection against Chinese competitors delivering better technology, better quality, and better value.
The Owl View 🦉:
The question is not whether Chinese automakers will become global competitors—they already are. The real question is whether U.S. policymakers want their industries competing alongside them, learning from them, and capturing part of the value created, or competing against them from behind walls that grow higher as competitiveness declines.
Industrial strategy should optimize for economic viability, not government policy.
@LukeGromen No, they're spoiled milk...aka old. Just ask 'em how rich they are, and how little they pay in tax, and how much Social Security they receive. Eyes wide and glossed with naivety, they say, "Wow, I never thought I'd be a millionaire."
@FarmGirlCarrie Mean reversion is inevitable. CA will go red and TX will go blue. It's called apathy and dissatisfaction. 😂🤣Everyone put on your cheerleader uniforms and breath a sigh of relief that your tribal savior has come. The American political landscape is retarded, at best.
@RobinWigg Who cares? Gold is the world's most prolific reserve asset again, surpassing the delusional period in history where the UST was somehow seen as a "risk-free" reserve asset.
@akm515 Cuts on the short-end (and yield curve control) unanchor the long and on a discounted-cash-flow basis (if arithmetic and fundamentals ever matter again) equity premium will likely be depressed. But, per Keynes, market's can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.
@Rory_Johnston Is it so weird when, if taken as fact, the image below illustrates China's trajectory in adding renewable energy capacity (along with building an SPR) for the last few years? 45% of oil used globally is for road transportation and 60% of new car sales in China are electric.
@BourbonCap Seems like yesterday that $META was trading in the 90's...wait...it was only 4 years ago. Hate might be a bit of hyperbole. Let's talk about discounts.
https://t.co/cJfWCi3boR's annual 618 shopping festival opened on May 30, with the number of new merchants participating surging over 62% from last year’s edition, according to the Chinese e-commerce giant. In the first four hours, 51 new merchants achieved sales of more than CNY10 million (USD1.5 million), while 1,516 ones of over CNY1 million (USD147,790). @JD_Corporate
@hussmanjp "Unfortunately, the deferral of consequences is often confused with the absence of consequences." I can't thank you enough for this reminder that life in so many ways is illusory.
@thedustinmore@CattardSlim Remember, uh, ummm…’member that time that Pete Fagseth quoted Samuel L Jackson’s fictional monologue in Pulp Fiction and he thought he was quoting a verse from the Bible? Remember that…?…that was awesome.