Why do Americans import so much ?
Cars, for example. Americans have the best cars made, Chevy, Cadillac, SSC, Ponitac, Mercury, and so on... So why do they need to import so much from the europeans ?
Take France, for example. French cars suck but almost every french citizen drives on, witch has to help economy !
But cars aren't the only example : food, medicare, and so on...
Answers
896 points
jillybeansisme answered 8 months ago …
Because most of our manufacturing plants have gone overseas and south of the border (thank you NAFTA). Labor is less expensive in China and India. Health care costs have risen so drastically that the corporations figure to save that money by not having the employees here in the US.
Read more from jillybeansisme
3943 points
MNSL answered 8 months ago …
I do not think you will get consumers like Americans in any other planet. Some counties spent exceeding their means. They borrowed more and more credit to spend. Banks and other financial companies promoted (even for those who did not have reasonable income) more and more credit cards and credit card to buy homes and other non productive items. Most items were imported from other countries. As a result of this some global industries benefited lot.
Too much supply of credit will create inflated prices for non productive assets and as a result of this any economy can collapse surprise to many. It is happening almost all over the world now.
Now export from countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong-Kong and other countries are collapsing. Some companies in some counties including mining and other commodity companies are struggling now.
I think this situation will change in the future.
Sooner than later X generation will retire. They will buy less and less expensive cars. Some USA made electric and small environmentally friendly cars will become popular.
Steel, electronic, auto and other export oriented companies will hit hard in the next 05 years. Only companies with local demand and export demand will emerge as leaders in the sector oriented bull markets in the next 05 years.
103 points
brucethegolfer answered 8 months ago …
Actually it boils down to price and, in the case of autos, quality. Look at WalMart. They keep prices low by buying from the lowest bidder.......
Autos, well, US quality is actually quite good right now, however, they sold us junk for years so we found Toyota and Nissan etc and got a better built car for a better price....that's called capitalism.
As for European cars, I think most just buy them for ego. I'm not down on them, just take a look at reliability and cost. The MB has miserable reliability, especially for what you pay. However, folks notice that Benz and can't see the Nissan. No, I don't own either....have 2 US cars and 2 foreign.
2769 points
Oldman answered 8 months ago …
There's a lot of things that aren't produced here which aren't really all that exotic: Many U.S. citizens are either immigrants or first generation offspring of immigrants, and have a taste for the "real stuff'" their forebears loved from "overseas": cheese, wines, cured meats and fish; the lists are long; the shipping costly, and the U.S. made imitations are deplorable.
Next, on to small appliances and housewares...when you are young and not so well off, to furnish your first apt. or home you tend to purchase low-priced imports as Jillybeanisme has noted, because U.S. made & advertised stuff is way over-priced...designer jeans and push-up bras are examples...they media hype makes them appear worthy to foreigners, but most of us in the States know their pricing pays for glossy ads. in fashion magazines.
Next up in the list is capital flow to a variety of classes of the U.S. economy...most everyone has access to some kind of 'purchase now pay later' credit. It's not bad, if the interest rates aren't excessive...and if you manage these credit card balances to keep them below 1/3 of the credit available, and make timely payments...you demonstrate a good credit hsitory and then qualify for the best rates when applying for a really huge loan...a mortgage on a living place.
Brucethegolfer made a really interesting point about the deplorable quality control of U.S. major automakers in the1970-90 period. My Dad used to swear by Chevys, until the last two spent months being repaired by dealerships...I owned U.S. made 'hot cars' until the mid 80's when the windows broke and the transmissions suddenly failed. At that time Toyota and Honda made much more reliable cars.
Some brands, such as Mitsubishi and Hyundai had enormous problems with quality, but they acknowledged them (unlike the U.S. Ford and GM, which denied them) and have completely revamped and improved their reliability scores and increased their market share. And some "foreign" cars are made here in the U.S., Toyotas in Kentucky and Subarus in Illinois, and have been for almost 25 years.
110 points
rosipop answered 6 months ago …
Well, i would say the reason why is because Bananas for example, come from africa they do not grow here in america. But the africans don't import from us. We import from them. Which is why, we have a little bit of everything and we take a little bit of everything in any case.
Thank you for reading.
