I honestly do not know why an otherwise alright guy continues to be blind to the incongruity of his argument.
The EU already has 4x the duty on imported cars from US than we lay on their imports, and yet he believes that is A-OK, keep getting screwed by them.
Because cars from the US aren't subject to their VAT and other taxes. The 4x the duty line is only telling a tiny fraction of the story. The reason Ford is starting to out-sell VW and BMW in Germany is because even with the import duty, their taxes are more favorable to US vehicles imported.
For example, if you import a $40K Ford to Denmark, that car is subject to 25% duty, fees, and environmental taxes, so it costs $50K.
In Denmark, a car made in Germany is subject to their auto VAT of 25% Goods and Services VAT, plus 15% EU VAT, plus environmental recap costs and such. Up until two years ago, the taxes on a EU manufactured car in Denmark was 200%- no, I'm not kidding (source below). They lowered it to be about 100%. So that $40K car made in Germany costs $80K. Denmark is the extreme case, but even in other areas, the VAT on domestically produced products is still higher than the import duty.
So their tax system, even with the duty line people keep bringing up, is still favorable to US imports.
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https://wallstreetpit.com/12684-denmarks-200-pecent-car-tax-crazy-and-crazier/But, with all that being said, why should we punish our consumers with higher taxes just because another country does so? Taxation is theft, period. The people who pay aren't the European manufacturers but the US consumers, the US dealers, and everyone else in the auto-import industry here. These are your average joes, not some snotty guy drinking wine in the back of his Rolls.