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Comment by toomuchtodo | Hacker News Reader

I am attempting to import the Seagull currently (experience the pain, see if and how to scale, how to avoid tariff mechanisms, etc), intend to report back with findings.

https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car

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This should be really difficult, especially since America and China have high tariffs in place for automobiles between each other as per China's WTO entrance agreement.

But if you want to have a lot of fun, try importing (as a private citizen) any kind of car into China. It is virtually impossible, even if the car is old. My boss tried to get his Hummer into China once just for kicks, and the negotiations just went on forever and eventually he just went back to the states. You might have an easier time if you are a diplomat and can get black plates for it.

As an infosec/cybersecurity practitioner, it is my jam to probe attack surface looking for weakness to exploit. This is simply another threat modeling exercise, policy instead of tech. I am not against the tariffs, but any means, there is value in protecting US domestic manufacturing for national security interests. But, there is a huge cheap EV TAM that is going unsatisfied by legacy auto and Tesla.

I also have a lot of disadvantaged folks in my sphere who could use cheap, clean EV wheels, and I cannot afford Teslas for all of them.

Tesla had to move production to China originally because of import tariffs. The USA did not establish the bilateral tariffs to protect its car markets, these were in place to protect China's. It seems a bit unfair that the USA is getting flack for this two decades later.

I admit I could totally fail, the learning is the exercise.

Can you import from Mexico instead of directly from China? Would this help overcome the tariffs/other obstacles?

Although this article was previously linked on HN, regarding importing 4 wheel loaders directly from China:

https://electrek.co/2023/11/30/i-bought-container-full-of-el...

Can you buy one in Mexico and keep driving in US for X time?

I honestly don't even mind the tariffs that seem to be present, and could probably tolerate +50% or even +80%. But the other question is whether the car ticks all the safety boxes that could flat out block the car from legally driving on US roads.

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