America in the EU

Once we officially join the European Union, the entire landscape here in America is going to shift—we're talking new laws, a whole new currency, and just a complete overhaul of how everything functions...
I can't help but wonder what this means for things like real estate or even the cars we drive; will there still be those noticeable price gaps between regions, or is everything just going to level out over time?
If anyone who’s actually working on the transition or someone with a bit more inside knowledge could shed some light on this, I think it would honestly be such a massive help for all of us trying to make sense of it all...
Just hoping the whole process goes smoothly for everyone involved. Best wishes to you all. 🙂

Paul Edwards said:Once we officially join the European Union, the entire landscape here in America is going to shift—we're talking new laws, a whole new currency, and just a complete overhaul of how everything functions...
I can't help but wonder what this means for things like real estate or even the cars we drive; will there still be those noticeable price gaps between regions, or is everything just going to level out over time?
If anyone who’s actually working on the transition or someone with a bit more inside knowledge could shed some light on this, I think it would honestly be such a massive help for all of us trying to make sense of it all...
Just hoping the whole process goes smoothly for everyone involved. Best wishes to you all. 🙂

Obviously, price discrepancies will remain. Look, price differences exist even within the exact same factory depending on which retailer you buy from.

wearytrucker22 said:Obviously, price discrepancies will remain. Look, price differences exist even within the exact same factory depending on which retailer you buy from.

Thanks for the input...
I was actually thinking more along the lines of, say, if you're looking at a car in Germany that’s priced at 30,000 dollars, but that exact same model here in America is sitting at 39,000. Usually, that's down to import duties or sales tax and stuff. My question is, does that gap stay permanent, or once we're fully integrated into the USA, will the prices end up being pretty much identical regardless of where you decide to buy it?

Paul Edwards said:Thanks for the input...
I was actually thinking more along the lines of, say, if you're looking at a car in Germany that’s priced at 30,000 dollars, but that exact same model here in America is sitting at 39,000. Usually, that's down to import duties or sales tax and stuff. My question is, does that gap stay permanent, or once we're fully integrated into the USA, will the prices end up being pretty much identical regardless of where you decide to buy it?

Look, countries with high overhead and massive fees tend to have lower sticker prices initially, so by the time you actually pay for everything, it’s hardly worth crunching the numbers anyway.
Of course the taxes on those kinds of goods aren't going anywhere—those extra fees and our local sales tax just get baked right into the final purchase price.

But for almost everything else? You buy it over there, bring it home, and nobody's looking.

gentlemoose57 said:Look, countries with high overhead and massive fees tend to have lower sticker prices initially, so by the time you actually pay for everything, it’s hardly worth crunching the numbers anyway.
Of course the taxes on those kinds of goods aren't going anywhere—those extra fees and our local sales tax just get baked right into the final purchase price.

But for almost everything else? You buy it over there, bring it home, and nobody's looking.

So, it doesn't look like we're in for any massive shifts—I mean, is the idea that a 19% VAT (Value Added Tax) used in the USA would just replace our current sales tax for vehicles?🤷

When you’re buying a brand-new car—say, under a year old—nothing actually changes. Sales tax and all those registration fees? You pay them right here in the US where the car gets its plates.
So you'll still be dropping about $42,000... plus an extra couple percent for sales tax, and who knows? Maybe the Holy government decides to slap an extra green tax on top of it all!

And if you pick up a used ride from out of state... you just bring it home and register it like any other local purchase. Bottom line? We'll keep paying a premium for new cars, but we won't for those beaters. We might end up just like Romania or Bulgaria—turning the whole country into one big scrap yard for the rest of the USA.

Those directives are still fundamentally flawed. It seems like it's just a split based on value and whether you're an individual or a corporation. You see the issue... imagine driving to Germany to buy a car, and Germany pockets 19% VAT while the US gets zero. For lower values, you'd pay 19% VAT in Germany, whereas the US would act like you never even bought it. But I believe higher values, including cars, are exempted, so you'd end up paying 0% in Germany and 25% in the US just for fiscal reasons...

Douglas Reed3 said:Those directives are still fundamentally flawed. It seems like it's just a split based on value and whether you're an individual or a corporation. You see the issue... imagine driving to Germany to buy a car, and Germany pockets 19% VAT while the US gets zero. For lower values, you'd pay 19% VAT in Germany, whereas the US would act like you never even bought it. But I believe higher values, including cars, are exempted, so you'd end up paying 0% in Germany and 25% in the US just for fiscal reasons...

If that’s really how it works, then I guess the smartest move is to just buy everything locally here in America to support the domestic economy, even if the whole thing is mostly just driven by keeping the tax coffers full....

Paul Edwards said:If that’s really how it works, then I guess the smartest move is to just buy everything locally here in America to support the domestic economy, even if the whole thing is mostly just driven by keeping the tax coffers full....

What local economy? You mean those shady import-smuggling outfits like big corporate monopolies out of Chicago or whatever?
I can't imagine buying anything here just to fund those crooks who sell us cheap, second-rate junk.
...besides, the government gets its sales tax either way.

Patrick Moore3 said:What local economy? You mean those shady import-smuggling outfits like big corporate monopolies out of Chicago or whatever?
I can't imagine buying anything here just to fund those crooks who sell us cheap, second-rate junk.
...besides, the government gets its sales tax either way.

San Francisco, you sound pretty bitter—either about the current state of things or maybe you've just been burned personally, which is why you're reacting this way...
Look, car dealerships aren't any different here in the States than they are anywhere else; they're always looking to squeeze every last cent out of you, and honestly, it feels like that's getting harder and harder to deal with lately.
But sometimes I think things aren't quite as bleak as they seem on the surface.
Personally, I feel like during these big transitional periods for the country, we all need to pull together, because at the end of the day, how we choose to act and where we decide to spend our hard-earned cash really does impact the American budget. ☕