“Better than Tariffs would be to get domestic energy down so that the cost of production is let in the US...that fixes the problem long term.”
The biggest ( and by a large margin ) cost American automakers face are legacy costs. Mostly retirement benefits and healthcare. They make the uncompetitive and with the UAW calling the labor tune, it isn’t going to get any better anytime soon. The autoworkers have priced themselves out of a world market. The newbies in the auto assembly business are going to have to accept lower wages and benefits if they are to have ANY jobs. We drive domestic automobiles, and we live in California. As we sat in a restaurant in Palo Alto on Monday, as we looked out into the parking lot, it was almost impossible to see a domestic vehicle except ab occasional SUV or pickup. Virtually no domestic autos! We were left wondering just where do the Big Three sell their cars?
Pickups, Suv's and cross overs are huge in flyover country.