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Notes -
I am skeptical if protectionism is a good idea for the US car industry.
Protectionism can be a good choice to allow your industry to catch up to the global market, if you do it right.
However, I have every confidence that the US would not do it right. The situation of carmakers in the US is very different from the situation of carmakers in Korea 1973. US carmakers are not hopelessly behind because they lack know-how. I would wager that the primary reason they are behind is because labor is way more expensive in the US than in China.
Valid reasons to engage in protectionism would be to offset China's advantage due to lax environmental and safety standards, or to offset anti-competitive subsidiaries by the Chinese state. In some sectors, there can be an argument made to protect industries which are non-profitable, but strategically important: even if tanks sold by China offered similar performance at a much lower price compared to NATO-produced tanks, it would not be in the interest of NATO countries to rely on foreign supply chains. Similarly, German coal subsidiaries were excused by the need for energy autonomy. I have a hard time seeing the strategic value of lower end cars though.
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