Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports didn't really come as a huge surprise. But the fallout of what's being levied is making some industries significant to the American economy feel on edge. Trump's tariffs are anticipated to have a negative impact on steel, aluminum, cars, automotive parts, and various electronics because of retaliation measures by China, according to SCMP via Politico.
Vehicle manufactures increasingly dependent on China
Trump holds the suspicion that auto imports are a threat to America's national security. And so this is thought to be at least part of the reason for the tariffs.
China is considered the most sizable car market in the world, and vehicle manufacturers are becoming increasingly dependent on that.
According to The Hill, China has accused Trump of starting “the biggest trade war in economic history.” China has announced it will retaliate to Trump's tariffs by placing tariffs on exported items such as "SUVs, crude oil, soybeans, and seafood." The goods it intends to focus on the most are vehicles and soybeans.
Car manufacturers aren't happy about the tariffs and believe they will eventually have a negative impact on jobs in their industry, auto parts prices, and vehicle prices. Nevertheless, they are still making moves to put more of their resources into bringing autonomous vehicles into the marketplace.
Self-driving car technology is eventually anticipated to allow the vehicle owner to program their destination into their vehicle and kick back and relax with, say, a magazine or a good book, or perhaps finish up some work while on the way there. It's also expected that autonomous car technology vehicles will burn less fuel.
Goal of vehicle manufacturers and self-driving cars
The long-term goal that car manufacturers have for self-driving cars is that these will be the only types of cars on the highways. Since driverless car technology would be computer controlled and cars would allegedly be able to move in lines much closer than non-driverless technology cars, it’s expected that they would burn less fuel since the speed at which they travel would be more constant.
Another noteworthy convenience of driverless car technology is that vehicles can park themselves several blocks from where the owner is dropped off. In addition, self-driving cars would eventually allow the elderly and visually impaired to have a renewed sense of independence since they won't have to worry about finding someone who can drive them to where they need to be.
That being said, driverless car technology apparently still has a long way to go according to some lawmakers and advocates. There needs to be better education for consumers on exactly what cars will and won't do in conjunction with the present technology available.
At this time, a self-driving car is still quite pricey. The technology is presently an option that will run a consumer an additional fee of about $5000 for a vehicle that's about $60,000. And there are presently only a handful of vehicles in which the technology can be installed.
