Back in the 60s and 70s in the USA the life span of the typical US car was about 50k miles. The Japanese moved in with their higher quality vehicles and the US had to improve their quality to keep up. So they lobbied the govt to tax foreign cars to make their cars more appealing. Of course they just raised their prices to match the tarrif increases, and make more profit.
My first car was one of those square Datsuns, 510? Great little car. Next was a Celica, wonderful. All the American cars I've owned have been junk by comparison. I wouldn't even visit a US car dealership if I was in the market.