The US built a `fortress` to block Chinese electric cars

(Dan Tri) – Chinese automakers are conquering millions of consumers around the world with affordable electric cars but are absent in the US.

Polestar, a luxury electric vehicle brand owned by Chinese automaker Geely and Volvo, plans to begin production in South Carolina next year (Photo: Getty).

Washington has built a fortress to block electric vehicles from China.

Those steps made it almost impossible for Chinese automakers to compete in the US market, even though they quickly penetrated other markets.

But some US officials say that even those trade barriers are not necessarily enough to stop the progress of Chinese automakers.

`China is determined to dominate the electric vehicle market by using unfair trade practices, but I will not let them do that,` Mr. Biden told auto union workers in Illinois in early November.

Chinese giant

China is on track to become the world’s largest auto exporter this year, replacing Japan.

According to the companies, China already produces about two-thirds of all electric vehicles globally.

Americans’ demand for foreign-made electric vehicles is increasing (Graphic: Wall Street Journal, Vietnameseization: Quoc Dat).

`Imagine a modern-day Godzilla monster with the power to overcome and destroy anything that stands in its way,` said Michael Dunne, CEO of ZoZo Go, a consulting company specializing in the Chinese electric vehicle industry.

Mr. Dunne said Chinese electric vehicles have penetrated more than 100 countries.

Some American lawmakers and policymakers want the status quo to remain as it is.

`It is only a matter of time before Chinese manufacturers can withstand an additional 25% tariff,` members of the House Committee on the Communist Party of China wrote in a letter to the US Trade Representative.

However, higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles are not necessarily a good thing for American automakers.

On the one hand, they want the US government to slow down the development of China’s electric vehicle industry.

In addition, China dominates the global supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, including the minerals needed for battery production.

`China started 10 to 15 years early in the electric vehicle industry,` Mr. Bozzella said.

Electric car company BYD of China.

It’s just the matter of time?

One of China’s biggest foreign targets is Europe.

Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said US policy discriminated against other countries’ electric vehicle industries, weakening fair competition.

Electric vehicle imports into the US by country (Graphic: Wall Street Journal, Vietnameseization: Quoc Dat).

Chinese automakers are preparing to assemble electric vehicles right in the US or in surrounding countries to avoid tariffs.

Polestar, the luxury electric car brand owned by Chinese automaker Geely and Volvo, plans to start production in South Carolina, US next year.

Analysts assess that the export activities of Chinese automakers will be further promoted because these companies have built up huge vehicle and battery production capacity.

Wendy Cutler, Vice President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, pointed out that China has the capacity to produce about 10 million cars after meeting the domestic market’s demand of 26 million cars per year.

But whether the world can absorb all that production is still an unanswered question.

`All the signs that our market could potentially be submerged are there,` Ms. Cutler said.