History Repeating
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
I arrived in the demolition and construction industry at roughly the same time the first Japanese excavators made landfall in Europe. I was told to my face that I was green (true) and that I knew nothing (also true). It was said behind my back that I was cocky and arrogant (guilty as charged). Yet by comparison to that initial wave of Japanese excavators, I was greeted like the proverbial prodigal son.
Those early machines were derided as poor copies of Western machines. It was said that the cabs were far too small for European bodies; that they were “boxy” and that they would grow rusty with the first fall of rain; and that they came with no parts or after sales support. Some of those early machines were so cheap that the UK Government imposed anti-dumping tariffs to level the playing field for incumbent equipment makers.
Despite all this, Japanese manufacturers like Komatsu and Hitachi not only survived but went on to become firm favourites among demolition contractors and equipment rental companies alike.
Fast-forward roughly a decade to the arrival of the first tranche of excavator emanating from South Korea. They too were considered boxy. They too supposedly had machine cabs built for tiny Koreans rather than full grown Europeans. It was said they too would rust prematurely and that there was nowhere to buy parts outside of Seoul. Some of those early Korean brands were also hit with the same anti-dumping tariffs imposed in the Japanese imports roughly ten years earlier. Despite this, brands like Hyundai and Doosan (now Develon) gained a foothold; and they too have evolved to become a mainstay of many UK equipment fleets.
And so we come to today; only this time it is not the inscrutable Japanese nor the wily Koreans that are the target of derision, ire and - potentially - anti-dumping tariffs. It is the pesky Chinese.
There are some that believe they are the first to demean an excavator originating from the Asian continent as “too square”, “too cheap” and “too prone to rust and corrosion”. They might also believe that they are the first to question the after sales support of a manufacturer located 10,000 miles away.
I can assure you this is nothing new. If the Japanese and Korean experience teaches us anything, it is that derision is often followed by acceptance; that acceptance gives way to a full-blown embracing.
If anti-dumping tariffs are imposed against Chinese excavator makers, it might temporarily upset the apple cart. But it won’t make the apple seller give up and go home. It will just make his apples a little bit more expensive. And those future apples will likely be more tasty and even better suited to British palates.
All of this has happened before. Chances are, it is highly likely to happen again. Given that inevitability, perhaps now would be a good time to start planning all the reasons we object to the first Indian-built machines to land on UK shores.
Just remember. This is nothing new. This is just a little bit of history repeating.
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