> US auto makers have been on the ropes since the 1980s.
Without a doubt.
In about 2000 the US automakers sued the EPA because their proposed clean air regulations for about 2009 were "impossible".
They were actually more lax than what Japanese automakers were already selling cars for in the year 2000.
So the automakers sued the US government to admit that in 2009 they couldn't build cars that were as clean as cars Japan was already making in 2000. That says a lot.
They were right about those regulations. The CAFE is why we now have the proliferation of huge trucks and SUVs instead of sedans.
Cars from Japan, 2000 or current that are clean aren't street legal here because they don't meet the safety standards. Those safety features add weight, which in turn drive down the efficiency.
> Cars from Japan, 2000 or current that are clean aren't street legal here because they don't meet the safety standards
I've seen this repeated for 25 years now, and to be honest I think it's simply not true.
Can you list one safety standard they don't meet?
The GT-R is identical as sold in Japan and the USA (well, actually, the US version has wider seats - true story).
Even when that one guy homologated the R32 Skyline into the USA he barely modified the front bumper at all and it met crash safety standards as it was.
I am not familiar with the NHTSA and EPA regulations to point you to one specfic place in the code but here is a citation. Also a lot of the Japanese vehicles that people point to as being more efficient are Kei class, these vehicles don't meet NHTSA code as they would not survive the crash tests.
https://gearshifters.org/nissan/how-to-import-a-nissan-silvi...
>Beginning in January 2024, the 1999 Nissan Silvia S15 will turn 25 years old. It will no longer be subject to NHTSA regulations after it turns 25 and can be legally imported into the USA.
>Because it did not adhere to federal safety and environmental regulations and featured a right-hand steering column, like cars in England, this particular vehicle was deemed unlawful in the United States. However, some Silvia vehicles have been registered in the US after being modified to comply with US laws.