I bought a German made car last year, its drive away price is about $60k USD in the US, I paid $120k for that in Shanghai - 25% tariff, 17% VAT, 25% sales tax,

I bought a German made car last year, its drive away price is about $60k USD in the US, I paid $120k for that in Shanghai - 25% tariff, 17% VAT, 25% sales tax, 10% vehicle tax, that is 77% combined. Trump choose to focus on the 25% tariff part and complains that it is difficult to sale American cars in China. What Trump didn't want to tell is the other 52% that apply to all cars including domestic brands. On top of those taxes, to get the new car registered you need a number plate right? the number plate is auctioned monthly, every month you have about 5% chance to secure the number plate even if you are willing to pay the current market price of $16k. They don't call it a tax, but it is obviously a tax collected on every car owner in Shanghai. statistically, you can keep bidding every month for 2 years and still couldn't get your car registered. and no there is no way to buy such number plate at $16K USD from other owners/the black market, the only alternative option is to pay $60K USD to the gov to get a motobike number plate and convert that to a regular car number plate. Again, it is a tax. Once you have everything above sorted out, congratulations! time to pay tax for petrol! For every $1 you spent on petrol, around 50% of that goes into taxes. Time to hit the roads right? Time to pay the toll roads then. In some provinces, we are talking about toll stations every few kilometers. Too expensive to even use the new car? Fine, just park it somewhere - $200k USD for a car park in my building, as expected, don't forget the $50k taxes/levies/agent fees/stamp duty on top of that as well. Life in China is like playing video games in Expert mode and those numerous taxes is by far the most significant reason.