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on september 13, local time, the us government decided to implement a significant increase in import tariffs on chinese products, including a 100% increase in tariffs on electric vehicles. this move is aimed at strengthening the protection of strategic industries in the united states. according to the announcement of the office of the united states trade representative, some tariff adjustments will take effect on september 27.

four months ago, on may 14, the white house official website released information stating that in 2024, the tariff on chinese electric vehicles exported to the united states will increase from 25% to 100%.

regarding the united states' substantial increase in tariffs, he yongqian, spokesperson for the ministry of commerce of china, said on the 5th that previously, the office of the united states trade representative solicited public comments on the results of the tariff review, and the majority of opinions opposed the imposition of tariffs or the application for the expansion of the scope of tariff exemptions. this shows that the us 301 tariffs on china are unpopular, and urged the united states to immediately cancel all additional tariffs on china.

the reason why the united states has significantly raised tariffs on chinese electric vehicles is the "china electric vehicle threat theory". in recent years, relying on supply chain and cost advantages, china's electric vehicle exports have been hot, with exports reaching 1.773 million units in 2023, an increase of 67.1% year-on-year; from january to august this year, my country exported 818,000 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%.

in contrast, the development of the us electric vehicle industry has not been as expected. not long ago, john bozzella, ceo of the alliance for automotive innovation, publicly stated that of the 113 electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid models currently sold in the united states, only 22 are eligible for the us electric vehicle tax credit, but only 13 can receive the full tax credit of $7,500. (note: electric vehicles need to use more local parts to qualify for the us tax credit.) us emission regulations and electric vehicle production targets are based to a certain extent on the effectiveness of electric vehicle tax credits. if these incentives are not available, the us auto industry will also lose its competitiveness globally.

regarding the us's practice of imposing large tariffs on chinese electric vehicles to protect the local industry, an independent director of an auto company once told the first financial reporter that the us government's current move is just a repeat of history. the us government has also introduced policies to prevent the attack of japanese and korean auto companies, but in the past few decades, ford and gm's market share in the united states has continued to decline, chrysler was acquired by italy's fiat automobile, and the share of japanese and korean cars in the united states has continued to rise. he believes that the united states needs to pay more attention to how to improve the competitiveness of its domestic auto industry, rather than how to set barriers for its competitors.

in fact, the us move has little impact on china's current electric vehicle exports, because the number of chinese new energy vehicles exported to the united states is not large. in 2023, the number of pure electric passenger cars exported to the united states from china will be 12,400, accounting for less than 1% of the total export volume and value. moreover, tesla's shanghai super factory, as its largest export center, produces model 3 and model y, which are mainly sold to many countries and regions in europe and asia-pacific.

on the other hand, many automakers that export electric vehicles to the us market have also taken targeted measures.

in august this year, a reporter from china business news learned from polestar that the polestar 3, a model of polestar, officially began production in south carolina, the united states. the polestar factory in south carolina produces cars specifically for the us and european markets, and will complement the production capacity of the chengdu factory in china. in addition, the polestar 4, a model of polestar, is expected to start production in south korea in mid-2025. it is reported that polestar will use the renault korea factory in which geely holding group has a stake to produce cars in the korean market and sell them to europe and the united states.

at the end of august, feng qingfeng, ceo of lotus group, said in an interview with yicai global that the us market is of strategic significance to lotus because the us is the world's largest luxury car market. under the us "tariff stick", lotus electric vehicles have rethought their positioning, pricing and product definition in the us market. therefore, lotus postponed the release of new cars in the us for a quarter, and the new cars will officially start delivery in the first quarter of next year.

on september 12, lotus announced that eletre would enter the north american market with a starting price of us$229,900.