Current Events > Trump's going on about the bowling ball test again

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250421_10/

US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim that Japan tests the body strength of foreign vehicles by using a bowling ball, citing this as an example of a non-tariff barrier.
But Japan's transport ministry says the country has no such national safety standards test.

In a social media post on Sunday, Trump listed eight types of what he called "non-tariff cheating": currency manipulation; VATs that act as tariffs and export subsidies; dumping below cost; export and other government subsidies; protective agricultural standards, such as no genetically engineered corn in the EU; protective technical standards; counterfeiting, piracy, and IP theft worth over one trillion dollars a year; and transshipping to evade tariffs.

He mentioned the Japanese test as an example of protective technical standards.

During his first term in 2018, Trump alleged that in a Japanese test of foreign vehicles, a bowling ball is dropped on the hood of a car from a height of 20 feet.

The president insisted that if the hood dents a little bit, the car does not qualify. He said the way Americans are treated is "horrible."

The White House press secretary at that time said the next day that Trump was obviously "joking." A US fact-checking organization concluded the claim was false.

Trump wrote that many world leaders and business executives are asking for relief from his reciprocal and other tariffs, adding that they "must right the wrongs of decades of abuse."

In the bilateral trade talks, the US side argues that Japanese vehicle safety regulations are a non-tariff barrier preventing American cars from enter ing the market.

i wouldnt trust america to say anything intelligent regarding regulations, with or without republicans leading the country

Cutting our safety and environmental regulations wasn't enough, he wants the globe to have no standards

How could anybody vote for somebody this fucking dumb?

Which companies can I apply for a job as "Bowling Ball Dropper"?

He has no concept of kei car culture or Japan's basic needs for cab-over vehicles.

We don't build anything they want. And for some reason we don't want the Toyota Alphard.

The thing is, they do test impact on car hoods. As does the EU.

But a hood that didn't deform would fail the fucking test. They are checking to make sure it would crumple and absorb impact to reduce harm to pedestrians in a collision. (This is just one of the reasons why Wankpanzers are not legal in many countries).

But, of course, the people Trump is talking to are even more bloody stupid than him.

"They're dropping bowling balls on the dogs, they're dropping bowling balls on the cats. They're dropping bowling balls on the pets of the people that live there."

I mean, wouldn't that be an "unfair tariff" for every country, not just Trump land?

Can they drop one on Trump's head and if it dents, the US gets a new president?

MagiMarthKoopa posted...

Can they drop one on Trump's head and if it dents, the US gets a new president?

Can't we drop Trump's head on a car hood?

bfslick50 posted...

Cutting our safety and environmental regulations wasn't enough, he wants the globe to have no standards

I mean it makes sense when you consider lowering/no standards is basically the only way to get a lot of American products sold elsewhere

MagiMarthKoopa posted...

Can they drop one on Trump's head

(Afterwards)
Trump: "Oh my God! Don King and I were horsing around in 1988 and he hit me in the head with a frying pan! I haven't been in control of my body! The things I've done! ::CRYING::"

ai123 posted...

The thing is, they do test impact on car hoods. As does the EU.

Isn't that just testing how it'll crash at certain speeds and angles? This is the first time I've heard of dropping a bowling ball. What is this Looney Tunes level of nonsense?

I'm pretty sure that's the fucking opposite of how it works in that if the car is an indestructible brick of fucking cement then it has no crumple zones, and if a car has no crumple zone, the people riding in it become the crumple zone, it's part of why Cybertrucks are illegal outside this fucking country.

ai123 posted...

But, of course, the people Trump is talking to are even more bloody stupid than him.

There's a reason why Trump loves the uneducated......

He only remembers shit from TV, so he probably remembers that Bowling Ball mattress test commercial. But I dunno how he remembers the Simmons Beautyrest Mattress commercial as something about Japanese cars.

Cynrascal posted...

Isn't that just testing how it'll crash at certain speeds and angles? This is the first time I've heard of dropping a bowling ball. What is this Looney Tunes level of nonsense?

No, they don't drop a bowling ball. But they do simulate impact of a pedestrian landing on the hood.

The point I was making was that a hood that doesn't deform is dangerous, and would fail the test. Which is the opposite of what the dogshit dumb President seems to think.

Enclave posted...

How could anybody vote for somebody this fucking dumb?

Because they're that fucking dumb. Oh, and racist.

wanderingshade posted...

He only remembers shit from TV, so he probably remembers that Bowling Ball mattress test commercial. But I dunno how he remembers the Simmons Beautyrest Mattress commercial as something about Japanese cars.

I mean, he probably is going senile at this point, so all his thoughts are confused

Enclave posted...

How could anybody vote for somebody this fucking dumb?

Half the voters are just as stupid as he is.