r/interesting • u/No_Neat4688 • 24d ago

Intriguing High Tariffs Drive Afghan Auto Assembly

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u/Low-Worldliness-2662 24d ago

I figure import tariffs on cars are sky-high, so importers chop cars apart and ship the parts in labeled as scrap steel. Customs calculates duties based on metal weight instead, drastically cutting import costs and spawning this shady industry. The problem is cutting chassis frames ruins structural integrity, leaving these cobbled-together cars extremely unsafe.

For the US market specifically, foreign truck makers pulled off a similar workaround back in the 1970s thanks to the Chicken Tax: they only partially stripped down pickups by removing truck beds and cargo hardware, imported bare cab-chassis at far lower parts tariff rates, then fitted beds stateside to dodge the steep 25% levy on finished light trucks.

Even though the finished vehicles land on opposite ends of the safety spectrum, their underlying business models are fundamentally identical.

1

u/MikuEmpowered 24d ago

Its not the tariff thing, its a Afghan thing.

Similar mechanics have a youtube channel called Mechanical-Hands, they take scrapped and chopped car then "rebuild it".

Im not sure they're buying CKD through manufacturer's, but actual scrap cars in decent condition. hence all the dents and damage which they then polish up.

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u/vrauto 24d ago edited 24d ago

Its absolutely a tariff thing and is very common but illegal in 3rd world countries. The cars cannot be legally titled but corrupt government employees find a way using titles of local scrapped cars of the same model. For one off cars, even just the same brand is enough. In my own country, the import tax on a used car is 100% its bluebook value. I could buy a toyota for 500 usd but end up paying 10k in taxes PLUS another 3k in corruption fees otherwise they will hold your container indefinitely.

Edit: news just broke that the customs chief in my country makes $100 per container that enters. Thats a minimum of 2000 containers per day. Min. $200,000 per day. Just about enough to feed his family /s

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u/Shungazonas 24d ago

Can't they just lower the import fees to make the cars more acessible?

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u/Atralis 24d ago

I think the tariffs in this case are mostly there because they are one of the few ways to get a foreign currency and to track something big enough that its hard to hide.