Economy Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show · Burt Cohen

Why Did Trump Try to Kill the American Auto Industry?

February 9, 2026·43 min·1 clip

Bert Cohen opens by treating Detroit as one of the clearest symbols of American strength in the modern era. He recalls the long stretch when Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler meant steady work, strong unions, and a path to the mortgage and the family table. The program lingers on the old car culture too, from the dominance of American-made vehicles to the shine of Cadillac fins that once carried the country's self-image around the world. From there it turns to the present question: how does an America-first president end up hurting the industrial base that once gave that slogan weight? Ryan Cooper argues that the industry had already been under pressure, but tariffs and recent political shocks pushed it further off course. He says Ford and GM made a serious bet on electrification, and then Trump, in the guest's view, drove a knife into that effort. The conversation shifts north to Canada and the practical side of the EV market. Cooper notes that Chinese electric vehicles are still uncommon in the United States because tariffs are so high. He says that is about to matter more in Canada, where Mark Carney's Liberal government has moved to cut the tariff on Chinese EVs almost to nothing. The show treats that move as a real competitive challenge for American automakers. Cooper says no one competes easily with China on price, and that includes Europeans and North Americans. He expects Chinese EVs to gain more ground in Canada because the country has cheap hydro power and, like Norway, can make the charging math work. He also points out that cold weather is manageable once the charging network and heat-pump models are in place. Cohen keeps pressing the point about what Americans are and are not seeing on their own roads. The guest explains that the absence of Chinese EVs in the U.S. is itself a sign of how restrictive the tariffs are. The discussion ends with a familiar civic worry: who actually has influence in the administration, and what kind of industrial future that influence produces. The host returns to the broader democratic frame, arguing that a better government would back electric cars that the country can sell to the world. Cooper closes by agreeing that the current policy direction is not helping. The program ends with the usual subscription pitch, after a conversation that stays focused on trade, power, and the consequences of bad industrial politics.

As heard by us

Detroit's auto story becomes a clear argument about trade, power, and who it serves.

Detroit's old promise of steady union work opens into a larger case against Trump's handling of the American auto industry and what it says about the country's industrial future.

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Why you'd press play

You want the politics behind Detroit's EV fight, not just the horse race.

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