What The Hell Does The New “NAFTA” Have To Do With Us Hot Rodders?

One of the reasons we all love cars is they are the great equalizer.

A stroll through any show-and-shine across this country is proof of that. Color, creed and social status fade away and suddenly, it becomes easy to approach a complete stranger and say, “I dig your car, man. Tell me about the build.”

At Rod Authority, we avoid bringing politics to the mix because it’s divisive and can ruffle feathers. Besides, everyone’s so friggin’ uptight these days. Having said that, the new trade document USMCA, (The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) formerly known as NAFTA, should be music to most American car lover’s ears.

Detroit and the “Arsenal of Democracy” was worth fighting for. Letting a crown jewel of America rot on the vine is one of the greatest tragedies of our generation.

Those of a certain age remember the mighty US auto industry after WWII. Innovation and good old American ingenuity ruled the world and created a fleet of the most beautiful, rolling works-of-art the planet has ever seen. WWII was won with the might of Detroit’s “Arsenal of Democracy.” as well.

With the onset of the 1970’s, things changed.

Foreign competition, gas shortages, safety/emissions requirements and a populace that didn’t particularly like home grown auto companies, changed the North American auto industry forever.

The Vega was a masterpiece compared to this. The Honey Bee might have lasted longer, but that meant you had to spend more time in it.

Most folks will say Detroit cars were crappy. Maybe, but one look at a Datsun Honey Bee from the ’70’s is a pretty good indication that all “malaise era” cars were awful, some maybe more so than others.

Another factor was the US market was once divided into three slices, GM, Ford and Chrysler. Today, there are ten major car brands in the United States and you could argue, no matter how good or bad Detroit’s cars were in the ’70’s, when three players morph into 10, the former slices became much smaller. 

Ironically, the same folks who flocked to non-local brands (and could have cared less where their car came from, as long as Consumer Reports anointed it,) now demand local food and products that “build community and provide middle class jobs.”  Check out a Whole Foods parking lot full of non-local cars if you want to get a glimpse at what hypocrisy looks like.

In fairness, the reason we enjoy $35k Mustangs and Camaros with 450hp V8s is the automotive Darwinism that occurred when we opened America’s auto market to all competitors. It was a painful and wrenching transformation for Big 3 fans to watch, most specifically during the Great Recession of 2008.

Let’s not forget, we’ve also had friendly nations play games with currency manipulation, intellectual property theft, technology transfers and a host of other shenanigans that have played the system and relegated the US to darn near impotence enforcing trade rules.

Whether you like Trump or think he’s the devil incarnate, USMCA is the first time that a modern President has said, “Enough.” The most telling–and our favorite part–was during Trump’s announcement on the lawn at the White House, yesterday.

Trump recounted a story of when Chinese slapped a 25% tariff on all US produced cars. “When I talked with President Xi Jinping about the auto tariffs, he said “No one from the US Government ever called us on it.  They never contacted us…”

Here’s the exchange;

Q.   You mentioned the $267 billion and possible more tariffs on China.  What does China need to do to avoid that?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we’ll see what happens with China.  We have lost $375 billion in trade deficits.  They have a surplus of $375 billion — with a “b” — with the United States.  And it’s been that way for years, and years, and years.  I always say, “We rebuilt China.”  They took that money, and they built fighter jets, and they built bridges.  They built more bridges than we built in the last 100 years, probably — big ones.  Like the George Washington Bridge — like big bridges.  And I’m not going to take, you know —

Look, I don’t blame China; I blame our leadership.  They should have never let that happen. And I told that to President Xi.  I said, “You know…” — I was making a speech in China, and I was really hitting China hard.  And I’m in China.  I don’t know if that’s a good thing to do.  But I looked at him, and I said, “But, you know, I don’t really blame you.  I blame our leadership for allowing this to happen.”  He knew exactly what I meant.

We had no deal with China.  I asked one of the top people in China — a representative at the highest level came to the Oval Office.  I said, “Let me ask you, how did this ever happen?”  He’s a pro, so he understands.  He doesn’t have to be cute.  He said, “Nobody ever did anything from the United States.  When we put on a 25 percent tariff on every car that comes from the United States into China, we thought we would be rebuked.  We thought it would be terrible.  Nobody ever called.  Nobody did anything.”  That was years ago.  And we charged them nothing — 2.5 [percent], but we don’t collect it.  We do now, by the way.

Lawmakers were probably too busy attending fund raisers around DC in their BMWs to notice we were “giving away the store.”

The US auto industry of yore is dead, most folks accept that. Hell, the country that built the 1965 Mustang is long gone. We also realize that today’s auto industry is made of multi-national companies that are now essentially “final assembly” plants,  stitching together components from multi-national global suppliers like Denso, Delco, Raytheon, Siemens, Lear among many others.

It’s probably irrelevant what badge is on the grille.

Nevertheless, Trump scrapping NAFTA and re-writing a new deal is the first instance in my lifetime where a sitting President has gone-to-the mat for the US auto industry. Sure, Obama bailed out the auto industry in 2009, but after that event, it was back to the old “hands off,” approach,  sticking to the old set of rules that got us to the current state of affairs.

After years of decay and neglect–see The City of Detroit–by people and leaders who thought our manufacturing base was “gone forever,” worthless, or best owned by foreign entities, President Trump has decreed otherwise. We’re not out of the woods yet as the proposal has to be approved, but let’s keep our fingers crossed.

A trip to SEMA is proof that the North American aftermarket parts industry is the healthiest it’s ever been. How the new trade agreement plays out for smaller, “mom and pop” parts makers remains to be seen.

As hot rodders, a task–sometimes unknowingly–assigned to us, is keeping the memory of a long dead iteration of the American auto industry alive. When USMCA is the law of land, might we be witnessing a renaissance of the US Auto industry?  We’ll probably be in electric, driver-less pods by then, but Americans should be the leader here as well.

Are these the good old days?

The goodness of today’s Big 3 cars is attributable to competition and a level playing filed. Too bad we almost put ourselves out of business.

About the author

Dave Cruikshank

Dave Cruikshank is a lifelong car enthusiast and an editor at Power Automedia. He digs all flavors of automobiles, from classic cars to modern EVs. Dave loves music, design, tech, current events, and fitness.
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