"Pulling back" will, of course, remove American automakers from the global marketplace and leave them selling solely into the North American market as manufacturers like BYD and others pull ahead.

And in the process eliminating another major American export industry. Several, in fact, since fewer and fewer countries are going to need oil and gas imports from the US.

I also think adopting NACS, while smart, also has a large part to play in the slump in sales. Would you buy a car today who's going to have an obsolete port tomorrow?