The U.S. government should block the import of low-cost Chinese autos and parts from Mexico, a U.S. manufacturing advocacy group said on Friday, warning they could threaten the viability of American car companies.

  • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
    1116·
    8 months ago

    The issue is they’re wanting to sell $30,000 cars for $15,000 (with the rest paid for by the Chinese government) which sounds great as a consumer until all the other manufacturers exit the market due to the impossibility of competing with those subsidies. Once they eliminate the competition, they’ll start selling these $30,000 cars for $50,000+ because “fuck you who else are you going to buy from?” That’s not to say the current crop of manufacturers aren’t fucking us over too but this isn’t how you eliminate that problem. You’re just trading one bully who steals your lunch money for another.

    • filister@lemmy.world
      101·
      8 months ago

      Oh come on. The US has super conservative and protectionist policies.

      The fact is that both CATL and BYD have the upper edge in battery technology. And that a lot of Chinese car manufacturers have very good and competitive products.

      European car brands are really struggling to transition to the future and still can’t figure out their software and technology. They are run by old guys who are still trying to save the ICEs as this technology is a gatekeeper of their businesses.

    • Mx Phibb@reddthat.com
      51·
      8 months ago

      True, but banning them seems like using a nuke to deal with a fly, just a bit overkill. I don’t expect the Chinese to play fair, but it seems that just saying that the rules only apply to American companies seems wrong and lazy.

      • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
        21·
        8 months ago

        Yeah I don’t think outright bans are much of a solution either. Tariffs would usually apply to a situation like this but it seems they can bypass those by building in and shipping from Mexico.

        • Mx Phibb@reddthat.com
          1·
          8 months ago

          True, I’m not sure what the solution is, but saying the rules only apply to certain players rubs me the wrong way. And that’s not even getting started on how much of the threat comes from US automakers refusal to produce electric cars until they were staring down a gun, plus how much they want to sell large expensive vehicles so they get nice large paychecks. Sure, China could and prolly is subsidizing their electric car industry, but we could do that too, in a way we already are with the tax credit only applying to American made vehicles.