Featured Trump tariffs put the US auto industry in disarray

About 1/3d of my retirement comes from pensions that unions forced on GE and Boeing. Not a union member but part of their ‘union avoidance’ the pensions were part of my compensation at the time.

Bob Wilson

 

Ah.....unions and subsidies.
The bane of farmers and factory workers alike.
However (COMMA!) as much as I loathe unions they're only one leg in this stool - and people in the US do not appreciate the fact that ROK autoworkers are very highly unionized - and their government (especially at the retail level) is "somewhat" corrupt.
They're also not (usually) this cosmically stupid - meaning the ROKs - not the unions.
I've driven by the plant on numerous occasions, and I'm a yuge fan of south central Kentucky....a beautiful part of that Commonwealth.

Unusually (especially for 'public radio') they actually nailed the root cause.
"In late 2025, Ford and SK On dissolved their partnership, citing federal policy changes that reduced EV incentives and weakened EV demand[.]"

The Koreans are probably the best automakers (and ship builders) on the planet for the time being. The ChiComms are catching up rapidly since they have engineering and development um...... 'shortcuts' that they're exploiting.
They have far fewer unions in China so it will be interesting to see how all that plays out.

Two FORMERLY great companies....
I'm a 27-year "union survivor" myself.

Unions are like AIDS.
People do not die directly from HIV or AIDS itself. Instead, the virus destroys the immune system, leaving the body vulnerable to "opportunistic infections" and cancers.
Unions either promote, or outright mandate unfunded (or underfunded) liabilities that further weaken industries, already beleaguered by bloated workforces and systemic inefficiencies.

 

......just for reference .......these battery plants are going great and booming in the US.....they are not unionized and SK of course is 50% partners in one of them....... why can they do just fine in the current US business climate?





Toyota Battery Plant:
Community and Future Growth
"Beyond manufacturing, the site includes amenities like childcare, a medical clinic, pharmacy, and fitness center for employees Fox Business. Toyota’s leadership has emphasized that this is just the start, with plans to grow capacity and diversify battery technologies to meet its 70% electrified target by 2030 Electrek.

In short, Toyota’s North Carolina battery plant is thriving as a cornerstone of its U.S. electrification push, delivering jobs, supporting hybrid and EV production, and positioning the company for long-term growth in the American market."

Hyundai Battery Plant:
Outlook
"With production ramping up and supply chain integration in place, the Hyundai battery plant in Georgia is poised to deliver on its role in Hyundai’s global EV ambitions. The combination of domestic manufacturing, strategic partnerships, and rapid recovery from the 2025 disruption positions it for sustained growth in the coming years."

 

Sorry; Unions neither promote or mandated unfunded and/or underfunded liabilities. It's the responsibilities of management to balance the books and it's management that signed the labor contract to begin with. Bloated work-forces and systemic inefficiencies also sounds like a management level issue - NOT a rank and file issue, worker bees really don't have a say; other than to follow written work rules.

This is from someone whom worked in that system for 30+ years and now enjoys my pension. I weep for the young, who think that a 401K will carry them through their retirement and don't understand the differences between a pension and 401K. Trump is correct when he stated that he loves his dumb, uneducated base and don't realize that a tariff is hitting them in the pocketbook - NOT another country. An unauthorized tax on the US population that wasn't voted for.

YMMV

 

Sorry; Unions neither promote or mandated unfunded and/or underfunded liabilities. It's the responsibilities of management to balance the books and it's management that signed the labor contract to begin with. Bloated work-forces and systemic inefficiencies also sounds like a management level issue - NOT a rank and file issue, worker bees really don't have a say; other than to follow written work rules.

This is from someone whom worked in that system for 30+ years and now enjoys my pension. I weep for the young, who think that a 401K will carry them through their retirement and don't understand the differences between a pension and 401K. Trump is correct when he stated that he loves his dumb, uneducated base and don't realize that a tariff is hitting them in the pocketbook - NOT another country. An unauthorized tax on the US population that wasn't voted for.

YMMV

 

Said no former employee of:
Sears
International Harvester
Bethlehem Steel
etc...
etc....
I 'would' weep for the young people who think that they can rely on defined-benefit pension funds and retiree healthcare obligations—but Darwinism has edited many of those programmes out of the economic gene pool.
SO now most 'young people' DO rely on 401k and defined contribution plans - regulated by the government and market forces in more or less equal parts.

Another topic for another thread....



Getting back to JUST the auto industry's problems....

I've often said that EVs have a bright future, but I've also said that they will not have "arrived" as an alternative for petrol (or oil burning) cars then they stop bribing people with their own money to buy them.

NOT ALL EV VENTURES WILL SUCCEED.
Stupid ones will die along the way, and the market will do a LOT of the threshing.

 

I laugh when liberals attempt to tell us the Trump Tariffs are a bad thing. So, let me get this straight...you have NO problem with the government giving billions and billions to "earth friendly" companies like solar and wind AND you have no problem with the government squeezing out the life of the American oil industry which drives up gas prices (and everything else) in order to "save the planet?"
Why is President Trump using tariffs? Because Clinton, Obama, and Biden created a giant sucking sound of millions of good, American jobs to LEAVE to go overseas. Why? Because they couldn't make it under the foot of the government on their throat. Why make a pair of blue jeans in America that cost you $40 to make (and sell for $50) when you can make the same pair of jeans in Vietnam for $20??? So lets put a tariff on those jeans so the company brings the manufacturing back here, where it should've stayed in the first place.
Unlike the empty talking points of Obama and Biden, Trump actually cares about American manufacturing jobs and, guess what, IT"S WORKING! For May 2026, economist expected 88,000 new jobs.....but we got 172,000 BECAUSE OF AMERICA FIRST POLICIES!
Check out Toyota....investing $2 Billion to bring back the Tacoma (and other models) BACK to Texas....(Would you rather buy a Tacoma made by a Mexican or an American....who do you think makes better quality cars??)
This economy is blowing up but in the GOOD way.....we are the envy of the world instead of being the laughing stock.

 

I'm actually a registered Republican and NOT happy about the current party's yellow spine.

As a footnote; Clinton actual balanced the federal budget and left office with a surplus. It was "read my lips", that placed us back onto the deficit spending tract. They also started the basis for the affordable care act; which didn't get passed until the Obama administration. The armed forces and military industrial complex don't like him because that's where the cuts hit the hardest. Base closures and cancellation of major military spending contracts and weapons platform. You can fact-check this - everyone wears rose color glasses, when they're trying to make a point - I'm no exception; but I'm NOT blind either....... Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it.

As a liberal would say - PEACE; YMMV

 

So it was the unions that set Trump's policy against EVs, and they also got Ford to turn away from electrification?

 

......just for reference .......these battery plants are going great and booming in the US.....they are not unionized and SK of course is 50% partners in one of them....... why can they do just fine in the current US business climate?





Toyota Battery Plant:
Community and Future Growth
"Beyond manufacturing, the site includes amenities like childcare, a medical clinic, pharmacy, and fitness center for employees Fox Business. Toyota’s leadership has emphasized that this is just the start, with plans to grow capacity and diversify battery technologies to meet its 70% electrified target by 2030 Electrek.

In short, Toyota’s North Carolina battery plant is thriving as a cornerstone of its U.S. electrification push, delivering jobs, supporting hybrid and EV production, and positioning the company for long-term growth in the American market."

Hyundai Battery Plant:
Outlook
"With production ramping up and supply chain integration in place, the Hyundai battery plant in Georgia is poised to deliver on its role in Hyundai’s global EV ambitions. The combination of domestic manufacturing, strategic partnerships, and rapid recovery from the 2025 disruption positions it for sustained growth in the coming years."

 

I too enjoyed:

• “solar and wind” - directly and indirectly from that free fusion generator 93 million miles away. For example, the panels on my roof.
• “American oil industry” - yet we export our oil since we don’t have refineries that handle sweet crude. Having driven by refineries in Coffeyville and Bartlesville, something about USA refining doesn’t sound right.
• “costs” - as Sandy Munro points out, MBAs and purchasing departments are bleeding companies dry. Sandy says, “I can’t afford you to save me money.” from changing suppliers with ‘sounds like’ but different feedstock.
• “jobs” - making blue jeans instead of machines to make the jeans. Picking fruit, roofing, and hard labor jobs that don’t pay much.
• “buy a Tacoma” - what I wish on every one of them as I pass them in my EV my tag “199 MPG”
• “envy” - by third party countries whose cost of gas went up like ours thanks to the sociopath in Chief closing down 20% of the world oil and natural gas supply?

Bob Wilson

 

Wait, how did a lack of unions keep these companies focused on electricfication? Was it their unions back in Japan and South Korea calling the shots?

Or perhaps, hear me out, it was the companies' management making these decisions?