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The United States has long hoped to suppress China's development, but its recent methods have become increasingly incomprehensible.

In the past, the bottleneck was at least the high-tech industry. Unexpectedly, the Americans recently "broke the big defense" and announced that even Chinese electric three-wheeled vehicle manufacturers would be subject to anti-dumping investigations by the Ministry of Commerce.

The culprit for this ridiculous situation is the Personal Transportation Manufacturers Alliance of the United States. The reason for their application is also very strange. They believe that the three-wheeled vehicle is a "low-speed passenger vehicle" - a "grandchild-picking vehicle" for grandpas and mothers that they would probably find it difficult to come up with such a sci-fi name for themselves until it falls apart.

This "low-speed passenger vehicle" has caused damage to the American auto industry, and the US government feels there is reason to suspect that this is a Chinese "conspiracy to invade American land."

An investigation report released in June showed that the American Personal Transportation Manufacturers Alliance asked the U.S. Department of Commerce to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric motorcycles and electric three-wheelers. The last time Chinese technology and automobile companies received such treatment were Huawei, BYD, NIO, Geely and other Chinese technology and automobile companies.

Many netizens said: "Are Americans crazy?" "I have never imagined such a vulgar and effective means of business warfare - you don't think I'm talking about US anti-dumping? No, I'm talking about us selling three-wheeled vehicles to American soldiers."

But no matter how the outside world judges it, the US authorities are resolute. US media reported that the US will issue a preliminary ruling on industry damage by August 5 at the latest, and the preliminary rulings on anti-subsidy and anti-dumping will be completed before the end of November.

Since this can make Americans so alert, it seems that we must re-examine electric three-wheelers.

You can't imagine how much Americans love three-wheeled vehicles

When it comes to the dispute over "three-wheeled vehicles", American netizens are divided into two completely different camps.

One group is the "worry-mongering group" who unconditionally support the decision made by the U.S. Department of Commerce, believing that "the Chinese are accustomed to using sorcery and trickery, and the appearance of this strange-looking low-speed passenger vehicle is very disturbing, and the low-speed driving will occupy public road resources and threaten the safety of other normal vehicles."

The other group is obviously the "pro-China" group who have used three-wheeled motorcycles. Because they fell in love with three-wheeled motorcycles, they also changed their views on China.

"China really has a lot of great inventions. I bought a lot of genius tools on Temu. When I first saw the three-wheeled vehicle on TikTok, I fell in love with it. It is the perfect Dream Car in my heart!"

The story of American foreigners seeing a three-wheeled vehicle on multimedia platforms dates back to the beginning of 2024. At that time, a blogger named "bobo in the United States" bought a three-wheeled vehicle for his father-in-law from China and shipped it all the way to the United States.

The reason for going to so much trouble is that my husband's family owns a farm, and my father-in-law often needs to transport goods, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, but the only vehicle for hauling the goods is an old pickup truck, which takes a long time just to ignite and start, consumes a lot of fuel, and is very inconvenient to use.

The filial daughter-in-law had an idea. She thought of the electric tricycles that were often seen in the fields in rural China, so she secretly bought one from China and had it shipped to the United States by express delivery. When they arrived in the United States, it happened to be Christmas, so they gave the three-wheeled vehicle to her father-in-law as a Christmas gift.

The blogger and his family did not take this matter seriously at first, but they did not expect that when they saw his father-in-law again after a while, they found that the three-wheeled motorcycle had become the "happy car" of his father-in-law and his brothers, a group of Americans.

The old men drove around and fished, and stood on the back of the car to COS the Titanic. In the end, it even developed to the point that whenever an electric tricycle drove out of the garage, there would be a group of American men standing next to it, cheering and applauding the driver and competing to jump into the car.

My father-in-law told the blogger that after using it, he felt that the tricycle was smaller, more energy-efficient and fuel-efficient, and could be parked anywhere on the farm, and turning and braking were not a problem.

No parking space is required, the cost of use is low, and you can ride the tricycle to the market when you have nothing to do. Not only can the three-wheeled vehicle enter some warehouse doors that pickup trucks cannot enter, but it can also unload goods automatically. It is very practical and can easily meet various vehicle needs such as short-distance transportation of building materials and daily transportation.

It is also very simple to license this electric tricycle. The local police also suggested that they hope to write a letter to the mayor to promote the construction of an electric tricycle factory locally so that they can buy it more conveniently. "The police patrol can also buy one!"

The uncle is now obsessed with the three-wheeled vehicle, and many American guys have been eyeing this "magic weapon" for even longer. Last year, an American man posted a video saying that his neighbor bought a Chinese electric tricycle, which was environmentally friendly and economical, and the price was only 600 US dollars. He was very envious.

It's not surprising that they express such sentiments, because although the United States' technological level is known to be the best in the world, its various civilian tools are just like the impression they leave on most people: bulky.

For example, in order to facilitate battlefield operations, the US military spent a year developing a strategic equipment called the Enhanced Silent Tactical Cart, with a total investment of $800 million. In China, the same electric cart only costs a few thousand yuan.

UPS, a commonly used express delivery company in the United States, invested 100 express delivery vehicles every month in 2020, shouting "This is the future of New York express delivery!"But the so-called "non-fuel delivery vehicle" they provide to couriers is actually just a bicycle that requires pedaling - just a three-wheeled one.

The price of such an "advanced tool" is as high as $80,000. The reason is that UPS invested more than $750 million in research and development between 2009 and 2016.

Aside from the cost, what is the effect? ​​According to calculations, the delivery vehicle invested by UPS can deliver about 100 to 150 packages per day, while the daily express delivery volume in New York City is 1.5 million pieces. It is difficult to see the effect of relieving the overall transportation capacity. So less than two years later, such "excellent products" can no longer be seen on the streets of New York.

Three-wheeled vehicle enterprises regain new life

After understanding this information, it is not difficult to understand why Americans would rather throw a tantrum than not buy a Chinese electric tricycle.

There are two ways for Americans to buy Chinese electric tricycles now. In addition to cross-border e-commerce platforms, many businessmen from China have also begun to purchase electric tricycles from China and then ship them to the European and North American markets for sale.

Due to the shortage of supply, the price of three-wheeled vehicles has risen from about US$600 in the past to US$5,000 to US$12,000. However, for overseas users, this is still a cheap enough price.

The popularity of three-wheeled vehicles has benefited not only the dealers responsible for buying and selling, but also many Chinese automobile manufacturers.

According to information from many three-wheeled vehicle dealers, the gross profit of three-wheeled vehicles in the Chinese market is less than 10%, but the net profit of export business can basically reach 8% to 10%.

Loncin General's first quarter financial report showed that both revenue and net profit increased from January to March this year, with operating income rising 20.41% to 3.296 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company increasing 39.46% from the same period in 2013 to 258 million yuan.

The 2023 annual report describes the sources of income in more detail, and the financial report shows that Loncin General's export earnings in 2023 reached US$870 million. The sales revenue realized from exports accounted for 43.32% of the total sales revenue. The sales revenue in China increased by 33.81% year-on-year, and the year-on-year growth rate of export sales revenue has reached 102.81%.

An electric tricycle company in Luoyang said that the output value in the first quarter of this year doubled compared with last year. Another company told the media that before the end of the second quarter, more than 100 foreign customers had already contacted them to book electric tricycles, and the schedule was already two months later.

The head of Zhejiang Green Horse Automobile Co., Ltd. gave an exact figure, saying that the order volume in the first quarter of this year increased by 10% year-on-year. Ni Xiaofeng, general manager of Jiangsu Guowei Automobile Co., Ltd., also said frankly: "After the video went viral, our car sales in the United States increased by three times."

Wang Feng, who is engaged in the assembly and sales of electric tricycles in Xuzhou, occasionally posts short videos on Douyin, which used to be for his own entertainment. But starting this year, many foreign companies began to send him private messages through this channel to purchase vehicles.

Unconsciously, Wang Feng's Douyin account began to become the company's marketing base. He felt helpless, but more delighted.

"In the final analysis, it is because our products are good that so many people are willing to pay for them. In the current economic environment, it is not easy to make a little money. Last year, the company was worried about not being able to pay employees' salaries. Fortunately, it seems that there is no need to worry about this this year."

The country of cars was almost overthrown by the three-wheeled motorcycle?

Chinese electric tricycles are exported overseas, and buyers are happy, and sellers are even happier. At a time when the global supply chain is tightening, electric tricycles have become a rare two-way market.

In the midst of peace, the only unhappy one is the US government.

The reason is very simple. The United States is known as the "country of cars". Survey statistics show that the gift American teenagers most want to buy for themselves is not a famous bag or watch, but a car that they can use at their own discretion.

Under this premise, one can imagine how developed the US automobile and highway industries are, how much tax revenue they can bring to the US government, and how much they can contribute to GDP.

Unfortunately, this situation can only remain in the era of fuel vehicles.

Because at that time European and American car companies were still strong, American domestic companies could meet consumers' needs for buying, repairing and maintaining cars. The US government made a lot of money, so naturally it looked down on the small piece of cake that other countries' industries got.

But with the rise of electric cars—especially Chinese-made ones that have swept the world—Americans have suddenly become more cautious.

Recall that in the past two years we have rarely heard stories about all people being created equal and supporting free trade. Instead, the United States itself has launched trade protection agreements that it once despised.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the United States has imposed high tariffs of 100% on Chinese electric car manufacturers such as BYD and Xiaomi, and now it is targeting Chinese electric tricycle companies. The list even includes golf carts, electric karts and sightseeing cars, which is enough to show that the Americans have stopped at nothing to "protect" their own industry.

American automakers wrote in a joint petition that they believe the dumping rate of Chinese three-wheeled vehicles has reached 477%: the manufacturing cost of a three-wheeled vehicle should be more than $50,000, and it is impossible for companies to make money at the current unit price of $12,000. Behind this must be the Chinese government subsidizing each vehicle by more than $40,000!

The Chinese people will know how ridiculous this reason is as soon as they hear it.There is also an even more bizarre view that the US authorities are blocking Chinese electric vehicles from entering the US because they are worried about cultural invasion.

As we all know, the broken gong horn sound of "Backing up, please pay attention! Backing up, please pay attention!" is the standard of three-wheeled vehicles. Since the electric three-wheeled vehicles became popular in the United States, many American guys have also fallen in love with this dubbing and started to create funny videos on platforms such as TikTok and X because of its overly weird tone.

The electric tricycle manufacturer is recently preparing to record an English version to replace it. The US government was furious when they heard about it. The half-understandable Chinese version has already brainwashed our children to this extent. What will happen if it is changed to English?

There is no need to accuse China of cultural invasion, but at least we can be sure that the US Department of Commerce really believes that Chinese electric tricycles will affect the US economy.

After all, the emergence of three-wheeled motorcycles in the market has affected the interests of pickup truck manufacturers, oil companies and gas stations, which is difficult to accept for American companies that have always been the hegemonic party.

Faced with the new energy vehicle industry, which has higher technological content and better reflects R&D capabilities, Chinese car companies are taking much greater action and investing more resolutely than their American counterparts.

In less than a decade, many new car manufacturers have emerged in China, including Weilai, Ideal, Xiaomi, and Huawei, while Tesla is the only well-known American company. Furthermore, this is also the result of the United States' inability to adapt to the changes in the new world and its stubborn adherence to the old narrative of the "American Dream".

In this way, the three-wheeled motorcycle with such huge energy may become a "Pacific butterfly" that stirs up the storm. As the "sanctioned" party, we may only be able to continue to move forward at a fast pace, and then leave the Americans with a sentence: "Foreign adults", the times have really changed.

Author | You Li