Cars are good to use as an example because there is some info on labor costs. The rule of thumb is it takes about 30 man hours to make a sedan ($30,000 at retail). This is pretty universal thruout the industry. So at say $50.00/hr the labor PER CAR would be $1,500. At $100.00 the labor would be $3,000. Now lets pay Mexicans $5.00/hr to assemble a car. The labor bill comes in at $150 per car. So depending on your US labor figure that you use you save anywhere between $1350 to $2850 PER CAR. Expressed as a percent of retail 1350/30,000 ( 4.5% ) to a high of 2850/30,000 (9.5%). WE ARE A LONG WAY FROM DOUBLE!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1) OK, but based on your policy, you want ALL CARS made in the USA, I assume even for those that are consumed in Asian countries.
How much would this cost in THEIR respective countries, and what would it do for the competitiveness of our brands as opposed to them assembling our cars OVER THERE and selling them domestically OVER THERE?
So, Mexicans can only buy cars MADE IN THE USA and not make them in Mexico to sell within Mexico by your lights.
2) You don’t seem to think that $2,850 per car affects the bottom line of the average consumer at all.