The visit raised a central tension for American businesses, investors, and policymakers that isn’t going away anytime soon: how to manage China’s growing prowess and relevance in sectors like the auto industry. Thanks to government investment, China’s auto industry produces more cars than any other country. And, increasingly, those cars are higher value electric vehicles that have uptake across the rest of the world. Leaders across government and the private sector know this is a problem, but they have yet to grapple fully with the potential collision course ahead as Chinese EVs—and indeed cleantech more broadly—increasingly put pressure on American companies.
Even if Chinese investment could be a boon for the U.S. economy, China trade hawks argue, the companies that would set up shop and the technologies they would bring would likely harm American incumbents and undercut labor standards. Furthermore, they say with good evidence, all of that state support represents an unfair practice that runs afoul of international trade rules and would distort the American market.
There is truth to these claims. But what is the long-term solution? When products are cheaper or better, trade barriers have historically become increasingly costly and difficult to sustain. Consumers complain. Entrepreneurs look for workarounds. Politicians flirt with buckling. Indeed, in January, Trump, who often follows political winds, suggested that he might be ok with Chinese car companies entering the U.S. market if they build local manufacturing.
But there’s a deep disconnect between that elite consensus view on EVs and the concerns of the broader American public. Polling from the University of Chicago last year showed that Americans would prefer to buy an electric vehicle made in the U.S. But, the bigger the price difference, the more their patriotism erodes. At a $5,000 difference, more respondents say they would prefer a Chinese EV over a more expensive American car. The persistent inflation likely to result from the fallout of the Iran war, including from high fuel prices, is likely to exacerbate this challenge.
Alarm bells should be going off in corporate America and in Washington. A solution that relies on consistent political alignment overcoming a confluence of citizen and market power is a faulty one. In the long term, something has to give.
To get this story in your inbox, sign up to TIME's Future Proof newsletter here.
Hence then, the article about the u s still doesn t have an answer to china s ev dominance was published today ( ) and is available on Time ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The U.S. Still Doesn't Have an Answer to China's EV Dominance )
Also on site :