[Flundstrom2]

Fact: European VAT (20-25% depending on country) is same for all companies; domestic, EU, US and Asians alike, added to end customers.

It's not EU's fault US manufacturers can't keep manufacturing costs down.

Neither is it EU's fault Trump believes slapping tariffs hurting US consumers will improve US standing in the world.

[bitshiftfaced]

The imbalance comes from how VAT and US taxes work differently. A European car comes to the show floor free of VAT. A US car likely has sales tax still embedded into the costs, and tariffs get multiplied on top of it. I'm not saying that it's anyone's "fault", but it is an advantage for countries that have VAT.

[omnimus]

Actually the european car comes to the show floor with VAT already paid by the store selling the car. VAT is end user tax, it's paid by last one in the chain. So it's only after the shop sells the car when they get the VAT back from the sale (and they get back only what VAT they paid before).

[bitshiftfaced]

I was referring to European cars sold in the US compared to US cars sold in Europe.