Re: US "rules"

[Matthew Killick <m.killick@domain.elided>]

I wrote:
<< 
 It won't happen.  Without local design rules, it's not possible to hide the
 protection of domestic manufacturers with the shields of non-tariff
 barriers.  The reason why Alfa Romeo cars are not available in the US is
 because the US government ensures that it is unprofitable for FIAT to
 attempt to sell them. >>

MAXLTV@domain.elided wrote:

>With all due respect, this statement cannot hold water. Import penetration in 
the US is about 30-35%, and that hardly smacks of protectionism. In fact, no 
country on earth allows foreign goods such easy access to it's domestic 
market, even at the expense of hundreds of thousands of workers. In fact, we 
>should retaliate in kind, particularly to our Japanese "allies."

US markets may be relatively open, but that doesn't mean they aren't
protected.  If it was an open market, you would be able to import and run
new  Alfa (or Lotus or whatever).  You cannot do this legally because the
market is not open.   The US government is also totally ruthless when it
comes to trade sanctions against overseas industries when US pressure
groups get their way.  At present, the Scottish angora wool (cottage)
industry is being killed because US banana traders don't like EC policy.
The US government has just imposed sanctions on Australian lamb imports, an
area where there is no significant domestic production.  A few years ago
the Japanese were forced to import large numbers of (unsaleable) American
cars in order to avoid sanctions.  

I could go on, but the point is a simple one.  Design rules are part of the
arsenal of non-tariff barriers used to control trade.  All countries use
them for this purpose.  Unfortunately for US enthusiasts, they are used in
this case to exclude specialist and low volume cars by making them too
expensive and risky to re-engineer and import.  

>FIAT, Maserati, and Alfa all left because of one reason, and that was their 
>inability to build a car most Americans would want to live with. 

They build cars which don't appeal to most American buyers.  Which
particular class of buyers should they design their products to appeal to?
Hyundai Excel, Honda Accord or F100?  IMO they left the US market because
they couldn't make enough profit on their sale volumes to justify the
risks.  But they can make useful profits in other low volume markets (e.g.
Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, most of the rest of the
world........).  Some of these countries have their own design rules,
others recognise that overseas standards are adequate.  The crucial
difference with the US market is in the method of implementation of US
design rules.

Cheers
Mat

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