> I think it is simply because they are no longer competitive enough to survive without a lot of protectionist measures keeping superior products off the market. That works in the US of course. But it has also killed the export market.
That said, it's still a reasonable strategy for the US to protect its domestic car industry from Chinese competition specifically due to open and hidden government subsidies that the Chinese government provides with the goal of owning this market segment (similar to solar panels and others).
This doesn't seem unreasonable if you consider the strategic dimension of outsourcing a key industry to an authoritarian adversary. As an aside, the EU is looking into this as well [1].
That said, it's still a reasonable strategy for the US to protect its domestic car industry from Chinese competition specifically due to open and hidden government subsidies that the Chinese government provides with the goal of owning this market segment (similar to solar panels and others).
This doesn't seem unreasonable if you consider the strategic dimension of outsourcing a key industry to an authoritarian adversary. As an aside, the EU is looking into this as well [1].
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-launches-anti-subsid...