Trade notes and alfas

["Scott Johnson" <scott@domain.elided>]

For what its worth, the US has been in negotiations with the EU to
"cross-license", as it were, each other's auto safety and emissions standards
for several years now. Once an agreement has been reached, *any* european maker
that passes euro standards will be automatically certified for ours, and
vice-versa. 

In 1996, the Washington Post reported that a major stumbling block was the power
of the US's airbags. Euros were less powerful, while ours were much more so. The
recent controversies and subsequent "powering-down" of US airbags would seem to
have cleared this hurdle. In most other respects, euro and US standards are
(apparently) very close, much more so than, say, in the 1970s.

I forget what this negotiating body is called, but they meet every 3 years and
this is a meeting year. FIAT has gone on record more than once that if such an
agreement is reached, they will in fact return to the US. 

So, somebody find out what this trade meeting is called, then contact your
senator and tell them to SUPPORT it. This may be the only way we can have a 156!

(P.S. The above is totally from memory. There could very well be errors, and
they will be mine and mine alone.)

Scott Johnson
Alfa Spider FAQ Author

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