# In the 80s I owned a new Isuzu Trooper II and a new Subaru Brat... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664 "2019-10-29T18:46:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/1 "2019-10-29T18:46:38Z")
The '86 Trooper II was imported into the U.S. with no rear seat (you could purchase one as an option) This was said to be because it would get the lower tariff rate of a truck. Now in the U.S., Brats, as you may recall, were tiny pickup “trucks” that from 1977 until 1985 came with 2 “Jumpseats” facing backwards in the bed. This is described on Wikipedia as a "tariff-avoidance ploy ([Subaru BRAT - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_BRAT)). How could both these claims be true? Did tariff rules flip-flop in 1985? (my '88 Brat came without the seats.) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/2 "2019-10-29T19:00:58Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > The '86 Trooper II was imported into the U.S. with no rear seat (you could purchase one as an option) This was said to be because it would get the lower tariff rate of a truck. This seems backwards to me. The current Ford Transit Connect is imported with rear seats so the lower passenger car tariff rate applies. Once the vans arrive in the US Ford throws out the back seats, covers up the rear windows, and turns them into cargo vans. Doing it that way allows them to avoid the much higher “truck” rate, even though it seems wasteful. I wonder if it was some other loophole Isuzu was exploiting by getting them classified as trucks, like less stringent safety or emissions standards. ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/3 "2019-10-29T19:13:00Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > This seems backwards to me. The current Ford Transit Connect is imported with rear seats so the lower passenger car tariff rate applies. Once the vans arrive in the US Ford throws out the back seats, covers up the rear windows, and turns them into cargo vans. Doing it that way allows them to avoid the much higher “truck” rate, even though it seems wasteful. > > I wonder if it was some other loophole Isuzu was exploiting by getting them classified as trucks, like less stringent safety or emissions standards. I can’t find a good cite for the Trooper II tariff-avoidance claim. It was my understanding at the time and apparently other folk’s as well (it pops up in some automobile-related web forums) ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/4 "2019-10-29T19:18:40Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > The '86 Trooper II was imported into the U.S. with no rear seat (you could purchase one as an option) This was said to be because it would get the lower tariff rate of a truck. > > Now in the U.S., Brats, as you may recall, were tiny pickup “trucks” that from 1977 until 1985 came with 2 “Jumpseats” facing backwards in the bed. This is described on Wikipedia as a "tariff-avoidance ploy ([Subaru BRAT - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_BRAT)). > > How could both these claims be true? Did tariff rules flip-flop in 1985? > > (my '88 Brat came without the seats.) looks like it. > **[Chicken tax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax)** > > The Chicken Tax is a 25 percent tariff on light trucks (and originally on potato starch, dextrin, and brandy) imposed in 1964 by the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson in response to tariffs placed by France and West Germany on importation of U.S. chicken. The period from 1961 to 1964 of tensions and negotiations surrounding the issue was known as the "Chicken War", taking place at the height of Cold War politics. > Eventually, the tariffs on potato starch, dextrin, and brandy were ... _“The U.S. Customs Service changed vehicle classifications in 1989, automatically relegating two-door SUVs to light-truck status.”_ ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/5 "2019-10-30T17:53:30Z")
Hmmm… well that was 1989. And my ‘86 Trooper II was a four door. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/6 "2019-10-30T18:13:07Z")
Maybe they imported it with the seats (avoiding the Chicken Tax) but then removed the seats to sell it as a truck to circumvent some domestic tax or fuel economy regulation? Though I think the Trooper II would have been classified as a light truck for CAFE even with the rear seats installed… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/7 "2019-10-30T18:16:35Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > looks like it. > > [Chicken tax - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax) > > _“The U.S. Customs Service changed vehicle classifications in 1989, automatically relegating two-door SUVs to light-truck status.”_ Beat me to it. It’s still in effect as far as I know, with a lot of ways to avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/8 "2019-10-30T19:01:49Z")
The two vehicles tried to avoid the chicken tax, which only applies to light trucks, in two ways. The Brat by adding seats and thus being imported as a car, and the Trooper by ripping out seats and thus being imported as a cargo truck. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/9 "2019-10-30T19:11:16Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > The two vehicles tried to avoid the chicken tax, which only applies to light trucks, in two ways. The Brat by adding seats and thus being imported as a car, and the Trooper by ripping out seats and thus being imported as a cargo truck. But why did the Chicken Tax apply to truck/van versions of the [VW bus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2#US_Chicken_Tax), but not the Trooper II? ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-80s-i-owned-a-new-isuzu-trooper-ii-and-a-new-subaru-brat/842664/10 "2019-10-30T19:11:51Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > and the Trooper by ripping out seats and thus being imported as a cargo truck. I’m still confused as to how removing seats avoided the Chicken Tax. In the example of the Transit Connect I mentioned yesterday, Ford has to _add_ seats to avoid the Chicken Tax. I’m guessing the rules were different in the 1980s, but I can’t wrap my head around how having a back seat makes it a “truck” to which the Chicken Tax would apply, while removing that seat makes it “not a truck” which can avoid the Chicken Tax.