MrMakabar

It is about Trump wanting German car companies to move their production to the US. Which is also really important to stress that a lot of cars made in the US are not made by the big 4, but by Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, BMW, Subaru and other foreign car companies. A lot of countries are looking for similar set ups from China as well. So stuff like BYD building factories in Thailand and Hungary for example.

That is most certainly the first time, I heared the United States of America described as a nobody.

Germany had 2.8million new cars sold in 2024 and a production of 4million cars. So net export is 1.2million cars. The difference is that Germany imports 4x more cars China does.

About the absolute and per capita. That does not make that much sense for trade. Countries with a smaller population have to specialize much more and trade in other products. Iceland would be stupid, if it had its own car industry for example, but it has a massive aluminium overproduction, which it can then trade for say cars. However larger countries are able to produce a lot more internally. So they tend to export and import less on a per capita bases. So yes China can not do certain things other smaller countries do, just due to its size. In this case even 4x lower net exports of cars then Germany, still mean 4x more cars being exported in total, which causes trouble around the world.

Maybe you should actually read the article you linked. It clearly speaks about overcapacity.

Also China is by far the biggest car producer in the world making up a third of global production. The exports are also massive. Last year the exported 5.859 million vehicles and grew more then 19%. The only countries producing more cars then China exports(only exports) are the US, Japan and India. Also this up until September Chinas car exports grew by 14.8% compared to the same period last year. So that would overtake Indias total car production of last year.

They are phasing out subsidies to buyers of EVs, but not the ones applying to Chinese exports of EVs. The Chinese even aknowledge that their susbidies created a massive oversupply, which means artifically low prices for them. That creates a huge problem for the European car industry, which did not get those subsidies.

From the article:

China has sent a clear signal that it is willing to pull the plug on subsidies for its electric vehicle industry

That is a huge difference to having mostly phased out subsidies.

This is the end of US car makers besides Tesla. Very few countries like to buy those massive American trucks and SUVs and without EVs selling normal cars is going to be difficult in many large markets, such as China and Europe. GM has basically left Europe already and Ford is firing workers like crazy. Stellantis is very likely to follow, but they have strong European brands and probably manage a bit longer.

Yeah the only thing Germany got out of that deal was 80 years of peace and the ability to turn itself into one of the best countries to live in. That for the most part without being too big a part in the really shitty stuff the US does.

It is also in the interest of Ukraine. There are oil reserves in the parts of Ukraine currently occupied by Russia. Those pipelines are a great option to sell that oil to Hungary and so on.

Most European countries stopped importing Russian fossil fuels about a year after the full scale invasion. That reduced European spending on Russian fossil fuels by about 90%. Right now the big buyers are mainly Hungary and Slovakia as well as some LNG contracts, which have not been banned, because Hungary and Slovakia block those sanctions. Also pipeline oil remains an issue, but it seems like most European countries have just given Ukraine the go ahead to blow up the pipelines going towards Hungary. Well as long as the explosions happen in Russia.

Did they watch to much Breaking Bad. As in stop the drugs from Venezuela and onshore drug production to the US using some badly paid chemistry teachers?

"Republicans will never allow articles of impeachment to be brought to the floor of the House of Representatives, and we know that's the case," Jeffries said at a press conference Monday.

Okay, but that is very different from not persueing an impeachment. Sometimes you do something, just to create a forum.

That is surely why the Canadian government claims to not have sold arms to Israel since 2024..... /s

Great to read some good news!

These are just the financial figures for the first 9months. Ukraine only started attacking Russian refineries a lot in August and the Rosneft refineries have been hit only more recently. For example according to Wikipedia the Ryazan refinery was "It go boom. 15 November 2025." So this is going to get a lot worse.

Also US sanctions are not part of this either.

It still is in large parts of Africa and that happens to be the region which is the hardest to control.

The right wants to keep and strengthen hierarchy. The problem with renewables is that they are much harder to control. Solar can be installed on the roofs, balconies and the like, which can be done by a lot of people. So hard to control. Even wind turbines can be easily built by a village or other larger group, like a rich farmer. Compared that to a gas power plant, which takes millions in investment or even more so a nuclear power plant, where we are talking billions. That is also true for things like EVs, which can be charged at home using solar.

There is a lifestyle where you own your own home, have some solar on the roof, charge an EV with it and have a garden producing some food. That is like 2/3 of a normal persons budget. So if you can work a bit to make ends means, that can create a lot of freedom. Especially if it is self employed job and considering that your basic needs are mostly covered that risk is acceptable. That sort of population would be a nightmare to control in a hierarchy.

It is a combination of sanctions and a lot of infrastructure being broken. But a lot can be repaired relatively quickly. You do not need peak production levels to make a hell of a lot of money.

and that is why the oil industry funds the far right with such insane sums. It is also really good news, as a decline in oil consumption is really going to hurt the far right.

There is another option, which is Putin is couped out of office. The new Russian government wants to get rid of Putin and sending him to the Hague would mean he is locked up for life and all the problems Russia has can be blamed on him. It also creates some good will with the Ukrainians for peace negotiations. The Wagner revolt shows that this is certainly possible.