• HelluvaBottomCarter [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 days ago

    Here is what I was told today by someone who voted for Trump, almost word-for-word:

    What he’s trying to do is create a level playing field. Other countries charge us a large tariff and we charge nothing. He’s trying to make it more even, so that we get something in return. How many US cars are driving around Japan? None. How many Japanese cars are driving around the us? That’s the point, to make things more even. So we will see. All we have had for the past 20 years is social activist presidents and not one of them had a business mind.

    His base doesn’t care. They don’t see stonks crashing news. By the time news gets to them it’s all racial crime, trans athletes, and Democrat watchdog shit.

    • miz [any, any]@hexbear.net
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      2 days ago

      How many US cars are driving around Japan? None.

      also false, it’s around 1% iirc but it’s not none. and it’s partly because American cars are too fucking big for small Japanese urban streets

      • CloutAtlas [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        2 days ago

        The average Ford F-1488 (or whatever number they’re up to now) taking up 2.5 lanes of a 1 lane Japanese street, just tearing up walls and houses

      • Grapho@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        Also, American companies don’t give a shit about foreign regulations or cost competitiveness and the dollar is artificially inflated so it can’t compete lmao. So mostly they export “status” cars like Mustangs, Chargers, Camaros, and Challengers because why the fuck would they do anything but the bare minimum to reap the highest profit (the domestic market)?

        They’re trying to solve a whole heap of contradictions with tariffs alone it’s so stupid.

    • Philosoraptor [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      2 days ago

      This follows Trump’s deeply held belief–perhaps his only deeply held belief–that every single interaction is zero-sum and has a winner and a loser. His base has bought into that wholeheartedly. The idea that multiple parties can win (or lose) in a given interaction is totally anathema to this worldview. If another country is mad about it, the US must be winning.

    • LaughingLion [any, any]@hexbear.net
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      2 days ago

      how many japanese people choose to drive an inferior product? basically nobody. how many will choose to drive an inferior product when it is even more expensive? even less.

      • FloridaBoi [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        1 day ago

        I don’t think they even have American car factories there while most of the cars from Japanese brands are at least assembled if not fully manufactured here