GM tells Trump that they and the UAW will decide their business

Really? That's why I'm looking at a ten year product development time line, with countries of origin, right now, genius? Because hell, I'd be the last to know? I don't what bug is up your *ss against GM, or what axe you have to grind, but if you want to engage in baseless rumor mongering, that's your call. Just don't come whining when the consequences show up and some lawyers put their foot up your backside.

 

GM imported 42,000 cars from china last year and they will import more in the future if allowed to

 

42,000 out of total 2018 annual sales of 2,954,037. The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

 

Actually MAC. They were SUVs. Go back and read his post carefully.

 

Thanks for the correction but an SUV is still commoning called a car

https://nypost.com/2017/07/02/gm-is-producing-popular-car-in-china-exporting-to-us/

 

Thats nitpiking

 

If you can promise America that GM will never send more than 42,000 chinese-made vehicles to the US in the future then I accept your point

But I think you know this is just the start of much more

 

What I want is an agreement with China to reduce the trade deficit to 50% more than what they Import. Right now they import about 120 Bill and export 450 bill. I would let china decide how they want to reduce the imbalance. Do they want to import 2.5x more or 300 Bill and continue to sell us 450 bill. Or they can cut their exports to us by 300 Billion. I want this done over 7 years.

 

Actually it isn't. Sales of the Buick Envision fell last year, compared to 2017 sales, losing customers to the Fairfax Assembly Plant (Kansas City, Kansas) built Cadillac XT- 4 (and the Cadillac is more expensive).

Only reason the Buick Envision is built in China is that between plants in Ontario, Mexico and the USA, plants build other SUV's on the same platform, namely the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain, were and still are maxed out. Some are running round the clock, on three shifts, to meet demand. There simply is no extra capacity to make them in North America, and the Buick doesn't sell in enough volume to put it in one of the plants to be closed (or already is closed). To justify converting the Lordstown, OH, or Hamtramck, MI plants to build the Envision, it would have to sell 175,000 to 250,000 units a year. It has to be able to run at least 8 hours a shift, two shifts a day, five days aweek, or else the plant would operate in the red. And moving some of the Chevrolet Equinox or GMC Terrain production, from the plants that are running on three shifts, to a US plant building the Buick, would actually increase their manufacturing costs and cut GM's profit. Right no, building where they're at, at maxed out production levels, is more profitable.

At the sales volume the Buick Envision sells at in the US, I don't ever see it coming here. And if it's Chinese sales increase, fewer will be available to send to the USA. My educated guess is that GM will drop it completely if its sales fall below 25,000 to 30,000. Right now it's still in track to hit 40,000. But like I said earlier, if Chinese sales go up, fewer come here regardless of demand, and it's appeal here isn't guaranteed. The redesigned GMC Terrain cuts into it lower price point sales and the Cadillac XT4 takes from it's upper trim level. And GM makes more profit on the North American built Cadillac and GMC than they do the Chinese built Buick.

 

Good, good. An answer.
So one last question.
How do you want to count the 250 billion that US companies sell into the Chinese market from their plants in China. I personally think we ought to net it out with the 50 billion they build here. Whatca think?
If you don't account for that it simply can't happen because they don't have the money to do it no matter how much they want to.
Then you need to consider what they import and if we are competitive suppliers. I think they can buy more food and energy, but obviously since we no longer make small cars they won't do anything there.

 

What is made in China and sold to China is none of our business. That is an internal affair for China only. What ever taxes our government collects on overseas investment and the profits from that to me is gravy. I don't care if Chinese companies want to do a start up here and hire Americans either. While profits may be drained outside at least all the ancillary benefits such as jobs, local taxes etc are realised by Americans.

And what do you mean, if we Buy 450 billion, they have 450 billion to spend.

And I don't want to tell China what they have to buy, that is a decision for them with the exception of limiting raw materials and agricultural products. I don't want them buying 100 bill more of food stuffs increasing the prices here and encouraging wasteful farming practices.

 

GM CEO Mary Barra responded to Dirty Donalds constant assaults on GM today by saying they are investing $1.8 Billion into their U.S.production and facilities.

 

You sure are stubborn

If GM can build one model of VEHICLE made in china they can import any GM product made there

And sooner or later they will

 

you're the ****** who's effing stubborn. There are no plans at general motors to move production from North America to anywhere else in the world. You have no facts to base your bullshit assumptions on, where as A) I am have family working for GM, in product development, plus manufacturing lus B) have been a GM supplier for 35 years.

 

You mean there are no plans to defect to china that GM has shared with you

 

Because there aren't any.

 

None that they told you about

 

We are not their only trading partner yet we make up almost all their trade surplus. Their GDp is also about 65% of ours.
So I guess we just need to make their stuff more expensive.

So what do you think they do with all our money? Put it in a giant piggy bank?
They spend it. Much of it with American companies making stuff in China for China's consumption. That's why I ask you that question.
So yes your correct, our option is to make their stuff more expensive. In essence a tax on Americans. So far all that has done for us is cause some inflation and leading to job loss because a lot of China's stuff is the input to American products pricing them out of the global and local markets. The only people that helps is our competition.

 

No they just need to buy more of our stuff made in the USA or sell us less. I don't care if we have to pay more for stuff made in china, taxes are taxes. If it brings down the volume of commodities coming into this country and helps offset our labor difference great. Now I don't like the way Trump uses that tax money, that money should be earmarked to reduce income taxes for people under 250,000. To reduce the impact of the tariffs $$ wise but still impact our competitiveness. We are the only country in the world that allows us to be manipulated in this way.

 

Considering we're quoting on tooling being shipped and installed at US and Canadian plants, three, four and five years from now, it just goes to show how much you don't know. As in you know absolutely zip, nada, nothing.

 

And it's not exactly growing in sales.

 

Naw, it's just dumb.
We couldn't even find the people to build enough iPhones. So here we are about to tariff a 1000 dollar phone over $9 in Chinese labor.
Chicks don't even know how to sew anymore so I think we would have trouble with the clothes.
Of course being capitalists it will never come to that, because the profit motive will simply move the supply chain to another low cost country.
Or are you a full protectionist and want to tariff everyone out of our market and us out of theirs?

 

Motorola tried making Android phones in a plant in Texas. Lost a boat load of money.

 

No, i just don't want such a trade imbalance as the one we have now with China. Like I said in my post I am ok with importing 50% more than exporting but 3X is not healthy. China will soon be a military threat to us, and I don't understand why our country should pay for it.

And please don't make such outlandish statements like 1% labor in a phone or "chicks" don't know how to sew. My father and mother both worked in the textile industry and I was a union member of the ACTWU for ten years in the 70s and 80s after I got out of the service. People can be trained for all sorts of jobs. I have no problem with moving imports to another country as most countries do not have the same protectionist policies as china, and as that country develops they will play fair more so than China.

 

But what does that have to do with trade. They just made a bad product. see https://www.engadget.com/2014/05/30/motorola-texas-plant-shutdown/
They reduced manufacturing costs by making it in texas, but the phone itself is a dud.