In the history of the United States of America, tariffs have played a significant role in the trade policies. Tariffs have been the topic of discussion on the nation’s economy, political debates and the trade policy. Tariffs help the government manage the federal budget. Controversies have always been rising on whether the manufacturing interests have been receiving favors which have led to the consumer interests being hurt by the heavy tariffs. My stand is, the manufacturing companies mostly in the automobiles have only acted in their own interests over the years and neglected the complaints of the users.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is among the agencies which are part of the transportation department in America. They have the power to regulate and control the automobile manufacturing industry. They carefully monitor the safety, damageability and the fuel economy. These are some of the sectors that the automobile manufacturers have taken full advantage to exploit the customers. NHTSA has the full authority of the government to set standards for every automobile industry which have to be met at all cost, especially the safety standards (Anastakis, 2005).
The automobile industry has a tug of war with the consumer organizations and the insurance industry. The conflict is mainly on the strength of the bumpers made by the automobile industries. The bumpers are not strong enough and put the driver and the pedestrians at risk in case of an accident. The automobile industries ignore these claims simply because they are making a lot of money on the sale of bumpers since they do not last long giving them a lot of profit. I feel this should not be the case, and they should indicate the strength of the bumper so that a customer can make informed decisions when buying a vehicle (Meier, Garman, & Keiser, 2003).
The manufacturers should be fair to their customers, since they are the cornerstone of their success. Customer satisfaction is the key reason behind the success of any business and, therefore, the automobile industries and the tariffs set by agencies which are in existence should cooperate to ensure that the customers are happy with what they receive from them.
References
Anastakis, D. (2005). Auto pact: Creating a borderless North American auto industry, 1960 - 1971. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Meier, K., Garman, E., & Keiser, L. (2003). Regulation and Consumer Protection: Politics, Bureaucracy, and Economics (4th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
