Foreign subsidies are no excuse for poor workmanship. I grew up not far from a Ford plant that was closed in the early 1980s because it had the worst record for producing defective cars of any plant in the company. That’s a pathetic indictment of the work force there, and it had nothing to do with Japanese competition.
“That’s a pathetic indictment of the work force there, and it had nothing to do with Japanese competition.”
Of course it did. Absent the crushing (and illegal) cost competition from the Japanese, Ford would have been in a position to charge higher prices.
Bad for the consumer? Maybe in the short term, but in the long term the extra capital would have allowed more rapid factory automation, as well as increased strength when fighting union depredations. Capital is power, and that’s what the Japanese stole from us.
Further, the loss of market share to the Japanese, the Germans, the Koreans, the Moldavians and anybody else with a bike shop has hurt the nation, and that is certainly bad for the consumer.