There’s no doubt about it: China saw that the future of the car market was electric and zoomed far into lead. It has accounted for more than hal

USA Pulls Mexico Into Its Anti-Chinese EVs Policies

submited by

Style Pass

2024-04-19 11:00:03

There’s no doubt about it: China saw that the future of the car market was electric and zoomed far into lead. It has accounted for more than half of global electric car sales, and aside from Tesla, the biggest electric car producers in the world are Chinese. Despite being late to the party — and many in the country still trying to prevent or slow adoption — the US is now trying to block Chinese electric cars from coming into the US and taking market share from established legacy automakers. There are currently very high tariffs on any Chinese EV imports (27.5%), and certain lawmakers are pushing for even higher tariffs!

I do see both arguments on this: 1) On the one hand, blocking good electric car options is not good for consumers, not good for the EV revolution, and not good for stopping climate change. If the US can’t be more competitive, that doesn’t mean it should penalize competitive electric car options from China. 2) On the other hand, if Chinese automakers are indeed unfairly subsidized by the Chinese government, then “dumping” them in the US and other markets is in violation of international trade rules and anti-free market.

Whatever your opinion on these matters is, the reality of the day is clear: the US is trying to block Chinese EVs. In Mexico, it’s been a different story. Like in South America, Africa, and other parts of Asia, Chinese EVs — most notably from BYD — have started entering the market. Also, BYD has been planning to open a factory in Mexico. First of all, this is a great way for the company to enter the market strongly and try to take a good chunk of a large auto market. Secondly, many have seen it as a way for BYD to potentially find a backdoor way into the US. But … not so fast.