

How Ford gets around the 25% import tariff on commercial vans - callmeed
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125357990638429655.html

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laut
Government does a good job wasting resources. But fun to watch peoples
ingenuity getting around restrictions. In Denmark until recently car importers
used to transform Land Rover Discoveries (LR3 in the US) and other cars to
auto campers (an RV in USA-language). You had to do some modifications for it
to qualify as a "camper". Like the roof that needed to be able to be raised
and it had a little kitchen. So they installed a token kitchen etc. The tax
would be something like 60% instead of 180% (plus 25% VAT). And in Denmark you
can still take the back seat out of most SUVs and station wagons for it to
qualify as a van and get a discount on the tax. So a bunch of people drive
around with cars without backseats. A waste of cars and resources.

I wonder what the true story of that chicken trade barrier is. Europe doesn't
issue taxes or tariffs, because it's a continent, not a political entity.
Turkey is transcontinental with most of it being in Asia.

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callmeed
It was France & Germany in the 60s

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax>

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mikeryan
I can't help but wonder if some savvy designer/entrepreneur couldn't find a
better ending for those seats.

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krschultz
You have to figure out the cost of shipping them all back vs just recycling
here. Seats are bulky and heavy. If the cars came in containers that were
going back empty it would make sense, but they are coming on bulk car carriers
so no free empties on the way back.

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nkurz
I think mikeryan's point was that there might be some way to use them here
_instead_ of shipping them back. Convert them to trendy office furniture and
sell them for 10 times the price of the recycled metal, that sort of thing.

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jws
This might explain why the electric conversions coming in 2010 are all
passenger models. (I was hoping for a cargo one.)

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dtf
Fascinating. And the first I've heard of Turkey being taxed as chicken.

