Will China flood globe with EVs, green tech? What's behind latest US-China trade fight
Will China flood globe with EVs, green tech? What's behind latest US-China trade fight
WASHINGTON (AP) -- China's burgeoning production of electric cars and other green technologies has become a flashpoint in a new U.S.-China trade fight
China has sharply ramped up its production of cheap electric vehicles, solar panels, and batteries just as the Biden administration has pushed through legislation supporting many of those same industries in the United States. ⠀
Chinese automaker BYD had recently introduced an electric SUV at the "astonishingly low" price of $14,000. China's auto industry poses an "existential threat" to U.S. carmakers, the report argued. ⠀
After more than a decade of subsidizing its automakers, China has built a substantial car industry that accounts for 60% of global electric vehicle sales, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency. ⠀
Yellen highlighted the Biden administration's concerns by recalling a visit a week earlier to Suniva, a solar cell manufacturer in Norcross, Georgia.
The company "was once forced to close down, like other companies across a number of industries, because it could not compete against large quantities of goods that China was exporting at artificially depressed prices," Yellen said. ⠀
China hasn't committed to any steps to address American concerns, arguing that its cheap solar panels and other green products are helping the world wage the costly battle against climate change.
China hasn’t committed to any steps to address American concerns, arguing that its cheap solar panels and other green products are helping the world wage the costly battle against climate change.
Based. Pay no attention to the shit the US government says.
It helps wage the war against climate change, cost of living, and inflation. Simultaneously. How spectacular.
But America is worlds #1 oil producer. This is horrible for the shareholders.
Yes, green technology, bUt At WhAt CoSt? (US losing hegemony is the cost)
Oh no! We didn’t get on board and now we are falling behind.
If it isn’t the consequences of our own actions
GOOD. The US has practically raped the entire world. It’s time we pay, all of us.
I love how threatened the American capitalist class is about competition.
I have no problem with this, I’d buy a Chinese Ev today if they were available.
I bought a MG4, I'm extremely happy with this car and I hope the arrival of Chinese EV will lower the price of all EVs.
I'm getting my xpeng g9 in 2 weeks.
This reminds me of the shift in the car market when Japanese cars entered the market after the Oil Crisis. American auto makers, used to building unreliable land yachts, couldn't adapt fast enough. Now we have American car makers building electric land yachts that people can't afford, and are threatened by cheaper foreign cars.
But unlike Japan, they can't force China into Plaza Accord and are panicking.
I am not sure i fully understand the issue. Are the cars and solar panels not good? Or is the issue that american car companies can't compete? Because the latter is not really an issue.
Arnaud Bertrand wrote a great article on this.
TL;DR: The 3 main signs of overcapacity (capacity utilization rates, inventory levels, and profit margins) for China are all at similar rates as the US, indicating they are not in overcapacity. And they aren't even selling them at a lower price abroad than at home to beat competition; it's the opposite. He concludes that China is simply getting too efficient at manufacturing these days and the US is starting to struggle to compete with that, and this is just them trying to convince China to slow down.
So yeah, the actual "issue" here does seem to just be that the US isn't able to compete with China in these fields anymore.
the actual "issue" here does seem to just be that the US isn't able to compete with China in these fields anymore.
That'll happen when you outsource all your manufacturing for a few decades in the pursuit of quick profits for wall street.
Then they can get fucked honestly. "Oh no I'm not winning in capitalism! Ban the competition! 🥺"
Have you sat in a Chinese EV? They put US and European one to shame.
Chinese solar panels used to not be great, but today they're easily competitive with the best that US and European vendors have to offer but at a fraction of the cost.
The Xiaomi SU7 is a perfect example. Xiaomi took 3 years from concept to their very first car. That in itself is insanely impressive, let alone the fact it's a great EV with a tonne of self-driving capability to rival Tesla, and comes in far cheaper. Watch the YouTube video about Xiaomi's SU7 factory, it's very impressive.
Meanwhile Apple decided to pull the plug on their first car. It's pretty telling of the situation.
I can't afford any car as i can't even afford getting a drivers license :(
It's literally that one calebcity skit where he keeps shooting scientists that are making groundbreaking inventions because it threatens his profits lol
why would they NOT help make the transition to EVs cheaper?
this reads like a bad thing, just because it might hurt the us?
I don't think it's about EVs. My understanding is that it's about protecting American auto manufacturers from "unfair" overseas competitors. There is a history here.
:: incoming semi-coherent rant::
Volkswagen was one of the first auto manufacturers to come to the US back in the 1950s. The us government set up a framework that allowed foreign manufacturers to establish themselves in the states. This was supposed to help the economy by making sure the cars sold here were manufactured here and abused by a set of standards the governing bodies set up.
Well eventually the Japanese got into the game and when brands like Toyota established themselves as cheaper and better than anything you could buy in America, the American car companies lobbied against it and won. This put a soft limit on how many cars could be imported from Japan (which in turn hurt Japan's economy). At the time there was a lot of sentiment going around that the Japanese were taking people's jobs so it actually was a very popular decision at the time (which seems weird because everyone was driving their cars).
Furthermore in the 1980s, people started importing and selling used cars from Europe. This hurt the auto manufacturers deeply as they could not compete with used luxury cars like Mercedes imported from Europe at those low used price points. This is why the auto manufacturers lobbied for a 25 year ban on the import and sale of cars (though they claim it was for safety, it was really to kill the grey market for imports).
The Truth is that a lot of other countries also followed the US in these Bans. Canada has the 20 year import ban and Europe has their own set of regulations.
Chinese cars and EVs will come to the West Eventually but first they'll come under the names of brands that are already here like Volvo. You won't see a Geely branded vehicle for a while unless they open up a Geely of America branch and begin shipping their parts here for assembly. This however will prevent them from having as much as a competitive edge in the US because labor is more expensive in the states than China and South East Asia.
Do they want you to transition to EVs? Yes. Do they want it to be cheap? No.
Oh I guess we don't care about stopping the climate crisis anymore, US oligarchs making money is clearly more important!