Unfair Trade

Here's a prime example of a trade imbalance that President Trump has been talking about: the auto industry. In Japan, domestic brands constitute 90% of the cars, leaving 10% for American, European, etc. In the US, the major US makers, GM, Ford, FCA, only make up 45%, while Japanese make up 39%. 

The deficit between the US and Japan was $68.9 billion last year, and it comes to no surprise that $52.6 billion are from vehicles and parts. It definitely doesn't come across as fair. Many people blame Japanese protectionist policies that force car inspections and a bunch of tricks that prevent foreign companies from working their war into the market.

But that's not the main problem. The thing is that American car dealers don't invest in the dealer network that Japanese people expect. Japanese dealers end up becoming friends with their customers and provide numerous services like free car washes, and all sorts of things that bring a homely feeling. Last year, Ford only sold 5000 vehicles, and decided to pull out of the market. GM only sold about 1000 cars.

There is some history behind everything though. Before WWII, US companies opened up in Japan and dispersed the technology to the country, but during WWII they were basically kicked out, and for the next few decades everyone has grown used to buying Japanese cars. But what's interesting is that US companies have been able to make their way into countries like China, which had even more restrictive policies than Japan, and significantly increase market share. In fact, GM sells more cars in China than in the US. Obviously there is a big underlying reason in that there weren't really good Chinese car companies that could make really good cars, and I mean people could't really even afford cars for decades until their economy finally opened up in the 80's.

Another interesting thing is that European brands have risen in market share, while American brands have fallen.

So no, it's really not the tariffs that keep out American companies, but rather the whole culture and market itself. There is also the idea that American cars are unreliable and waste gas

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/11/us-cars-japan/544991/

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/16/news/economy/american-cars-japan/index.html