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["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

We shipped hardly any cars to China prior to 2002.  At that time the import 
tariff on cars was 80%.  When China agreed to terms with the WTO, they 
dropped the tariff by increments with the last drop (2006) to 25%.  GM's 
Buick sold more cars in China than they sold in the U.S.  Audi sold 100,000 
there last year which is more than they sold in the U.S.

If would be nice if they did figure out a way to run them on something else. 
That is the same hope the guy has that built the eco village for the Chinese 
government.  He hopes that having a total solar village will encourage the 
Chinese to come up with a way to make solar affordable to the average 
person.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>


> Mostly, they're making their own. Their import tariffs are extremely
> high for cars _and_ auto parts (25 percent, the last number I can
> find).  We don't have a major market there (but, yes, whatever they're
> driving is burning gas, so that's another reason they need oil).
>
> I wouldn't be surprised if those wiley Chinese figured out how to run
> cars on something besides petrol and sold the technology back to us.
> Of course, we might not be able to buy it.
>
> If we had any smarts, we'd be developing alterrnative energy sources
> -- but if we had brains, we'd be insulating our houses too -- and
> schlepping the new technology on the world market. As it is, we're
> going to be buying it from everyone else. Is that because the best
> brains are going into investment banking?