The US has imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs, and the EU is considering increasing its tariffs. I’m sympathetic to the worker/industry protection argument, but many people will look at decent EVs being sold in China for $15,000 & feel they are being cheated.
I haven’t had time to look into detail, but are the tariffs for complete vehicles only, or for parts (e.g. batteries) too? Any decent links or blogs (preferably not news sites) to get a neutral overview?
Yes it affects parts too, at least batteries. Stifling electric car production isn’t enough, ebikes get caught in the crossfire too.
So, from a linked article to the one you sent, it looks like batteries themselves are included in the tarrifs
https://www.wired.com/story/new-ev-china-tariffs-biden/
Electric vehicle batteries and battery components will also be subject to new tariffs—Chinese lithium-ion battery tariffs rise from 7.5 percent to 25 percent, and rates for Chinese critical minerals, including manganese and cobalt, will move from 0 percent to 25 percent.
But from the link you sent, for ebikes it appears only their batteries are included and complete bikes are not clearly defined (which I would assume to be not explicitly included at this stage)?
In a written statement, Angela Perez, a spokesperson for the USTR, said that e-bike batteries imported from China on their own will be subject to new tariffs of 25 percent in 2026, up from 7.5 percent.
But it’s unclear whether imported complete e-bikes, as well as other cycling products including children’s bicycles and bicycle trailers, might be affected by new US trade policies. These products have technically been subject to 25 percent tariffs since the Trump administration. But US trade officials have consistently used exclusions to waive tariffs for many of those cycling products. The latest round of exclusions are set to expire at the end of this month.
How do they expect an EV transition with 80% of the companies building them under tariff, and the ones people can afford also under tariff. You need to get product in the hands of the consumer… I propose that since no US makers are in the under $20k MSRP range for EV then we should relax tariffs on vehicles in that price range. This will get product into consumer hands, keep Chinese car prices down, and ensure GM, and such profits from their nasty huge SUV and trucks.
No, slavery and dealing with oppressive totalitarian regimes is never okay.
Delaying EV transition only helps China, a lot.
Haven’t they learn anything from Kodak and Sony from the transition to digital camera?
Kodak, a Fortune 500 company, developed one of the first digital camera but refuse to shift away from traditional film business, leading to their downfall.
Sony manufacture the best mobile camera sensor in the early days of smartphone, but refuse to use it in their own smartphone, purposely make their phone take lower quality picture because they afraid it would hurt DSLR sales.
Well, they weren’t wrong on the hurting DSLR sales…
Huh? An industry that has a century or more of R&D is trying to milk every ounce out of their existing workstreams and infrastructure before adopting a new standard?
Who is surprised by this
