Unions have a very different culture in the US as compared to Germany. American unions are in a highly adversarial relationship with their employers. This is compounded by a further adversarial relationship between certain political constituencies in the public and unions.

A lot of this can be attributed to the history of the 20th century and the different effects of communism in these respective countries. This may even be reflected in the differing attitudes towards tertiary education and vocational school.

It’s a very complicated issue with a lot of history.

That is because Western Europe has restrictive tariffs on car imports.

If you want to put high tariffs on imports in the IS, then the IS industry would re-emerge also - though the price of cars would double.

A car or any other motor vehicle imported to Germany from outside the EU is normally subject to a 10% import duty and a 19% import value added tax.

Worth noting regarding VAT: if one has a VAT number, it is not a cost. It simply gets passed on and the business claims it back. Different story for an end consumer.

VAT refunds are not available in all locations for the purchase of a car: https://informi.co.uk/finance/how-can-i-reclaim-vat