At a time when U.S. automakers are tapping the brakes on electric vehicle production, China is doing just the opposite. Thanks to massive subsidies began years ago, along with aggressive trade tactics, China has taken over the dominant role in the world's EV market, from vehicle production to EV parts and batteries. That has prompted some critics to warn the U.S. needs to bolster its own EV industry or risk losing auto industry jobs to China. President Biden recently acknowledged the EV threat from China by announcing 100% tariffs on all Chinese-made EVs, even as his policies appear to be boosting the EV market in China's favor.
Author and China expert Gordon Chang warns about China's EV ambitions in a recent interview with Fox News. "China makes 60-percent of the world's EVs," he says. "It manufactures ten million more cars per year than it can absorb in its domestic market, which means it must export those additional cars, which means it floods the markets around the world."
Although the EV market is sputtering in the U.S., it is still likely to be a growing sector of the global auto industry over the next decade, and China is banking on using this as another foothold into dominating the global economy. "The massive subsidies China puts into its EVs are about 3-4 times the size of subsidies in other countries," says Chang. "So basically, we've got this massive trade violation, and it is extremely predatory."
Chang also warns China's EV ambitions go beyond economic goals to espionage. "With an EV or any Chinese-made car, I'm sure the Chinese are going to use it to take information from us," he tells Fox. "China has been hoovering up information in all areas, and it's doing that for a number of purposes...but none of them are benign."
Photo: AFP