BMW, the well-known German auto manufacturer, has seen its profits plunge by nearly a third in the second quarter. This dramatic fall is linked directly to a sharp hike in US tariffs on European cars and car parts, a measure pushed by the US government to bolster its own bourgeois interests under the guise of “America First.” At the same time, BMW faces headwinds in China, where the market is fiercely competitive and other capitalist enterprises are slashing prices. Overall, BMW's revenue fell more than 8 percent, and their key automotive margin has also shrunk considerably. While some hope remains that future negotiations may cut tariffs on US-to-Europe car exports, these minor concessions cannot undo the blows dealt by aggressive protectionist policies and the chaotic disorder inherent in capitalist rivalry. Despite all this turbulence, BMW clings to capitalist optimism, betting on new models, supposed “resilience,” and relentless cost-cutting to weather the storm.

This entire episode, full of figures and statements from company executives, offers a textbook case of the failures and contradictions of the global capitalist system. When the parasites of monopoly capital fight over profits, the working masses become pawns in their endless struggle for supremacy. Whether it is the US bourgeoisie ratcheting up tariffs to protect their own industrial cronies, or German auto capital fighting to maintain its markets abroad, the real cost is always borne by the masses: workers face layoff threats, and the instability of global capitalism brings insecurity to millions.

These so-called “trade wars” are not wars of liberation or progress, but of naked profit, driven by a system where competition means suffering for workers and waste on a planetary scale. BMW’s “efficiency” and “cost optimization” are euphemisms for pressuring workers, squeezing wages, and extracting every drop of surplus value from labor. Behind the sterile numbers lies the reality: every margin gained is a margin stolen from the people who create society’s wealth.

Yet the arrogance of these imperialist firms knows no bounds. They trumpet “resilience” not of the working people, but of their profit machinery. They plan to flood the world with new models and continue their expansion, heedless of ecological consequences, and insatiable in their hunger for market share. The fact that BMW can still avoid layoffs—while its rivals resort to them—is a temporary comfort that changes nothing fundamental. As the crisis deepens, as competition sharpens and capitalist contradictions sharpen, the sword always hovers over the heads of the workers.

We must never forget: so long as the means of production remain the property of a tiny capitalist elite—whether in Berlin or Detroit or Seoul—the peoples of the world will face further exploitation and insecurity. Mao Zedong taught us that only by smashing the old world and building a new socialist society in its place can we secure the liberation of the working class and an economy in service to the majority. Let these crises be a lesson: capitalism will always produce instability, arrogance of monopoly, and suffering for the people, until it is swept away by the people themselves!