Tariffs are more of a soft ban than anything else. They’re meant to function to protect local industry from cheap imports. And they don’t even achieve that.
Case in point: in the 1980’s I believe it was, Yamaha came out with their Virago line of cruiser motorcycles. They were objectively better than Harley-Davidsons and sold much cheaper, the only reason to buy a Harley was 1. because the gaing you’re in requires ownership of one to be a member, 2. cosplaying as a member of said gang requires ownership of one, or 3. your boomer brain couldn’t handle your motorcycle going duh-duh-duh-duh instead of duduh-duduh.
So Harley lobbied for and got a tariff on cruiser motorcycles of over I think it was 1200ccs engine displacement, which simply made the Japanese bikes cost more like what the American ones did. Yamaha responded by slightly treducing the cylinder bores to bring the displacement down to 1150cc making the tariff non-applicable and nothing of use was accomplished.
Tariffs are more of a soft ban than anything else. They’re meant to function to protect local industry from cheap imports. And they don’t even achieve that.
Case in point: in the 1980’s I believe it was, Yamaha came out with their Virago line of cruiser motorcycles. They were objectively better than Harley-Davidsons and sold much cheaper, the only reason to buy a Harley was 1. because the gaing you’re in requires ownership of one to be a member, 2. cosplaying as a member of said gang requires ownership of one, or 3. your boomer brain couldn’t handle your motorcycle going duh-duh-duh-duh instead of duduh-duduh.
So Harley lobbied for and got a tariff on cruiser motorcycles of over I think it was 1200ccs engine displacement, which simply made the Japanese bikes cost more like what the American ones did. Yamaha responded by slightly treducing the cylinder bores to bring the displacement down to 1150cc making the tariff non-applicable and nothing of use was accomplished.
A person could pay 100% tarriff on the cost of a Yamaha Virago(v-star) and it would still be cheaper than a Harley.
Jesus why are Harley’s so expensive
ESPECIALLY considering the long term costs of ownership