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the us has significantly raised tariffs on chinese electric vehicles since the end of september, which continues to attract attention. on the one hand, the us government is wielding the stick of protectionism; on the other hand, senior executives of us automakers admitted after visiting china that the us has fallen far behind in the field of electric vehicles.

the united states will impose a 102.5% tariff on chinese electric vehicles starting in late september

on september 13, local time, the office of the united states trade representative issued an announcement on the final measures of the 301 tariffs on china, announcing that the tariff rate on some chinese goods will be increased from september 27. on the 14th, the spokesperson of the ministry of commerce of china made a statement, saying that china is strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it.

according to the peterson institute for international economics, a washington think tank, the average tariff level imposed by the united states on chinese goods was 3.8% before the trade conflict in 2018; after multiple rounds of tariff increases, this figure has increased significantly to 19.3%. currently, about 66.4% of chinese goods exported to the united states are subject to additional tariffs.

the biden administration's focus in adjusting tariffs on china this time is china's new energy-related industries, especially the tariff rate faced by chinese-made electric vehicles when entering the us market, which will be significantly increased from the current 27.5% to 102.5%.

according to data from the general administration of customs of china, in 2019, china exported only 326 pure electric vehicles to the united states, with an export value of less than 3 million us dollars; it was not until 2022 that china's exports of pure electric vehicles to the united states exceeded 10,000. according to us data, pure electric and hybrid vehicles produced in china only account for 2% of the total new energy vehicles imported by the united states, far less than german, korean and japanese vehicles.

us media: ford ceo says chinese electric car companies are "advancing at the speed of light"

industry insiders pointed out that the united states is just wishful thinking to suppress china's new energy industry by imposing additional tariffs. the wall street journal website published an article on the 14th, revealing that jim farley, ceo of ford, the second largest automaker in the united states, has visited china many times since the beginning of 2023. these visits to china made him fully realize that chinese companies are already far ahead in the electric vehicle competition.

after returning from china in may this year, he called ford board member john thornton and said: chinese electric vehicle companies are advancing at the speed of light. chinese electric vehicles use ai and a large number of other new technologies, and similar products are simply not available in the united states. chinese car companies use efficient supply chains to provide better products at lower prices and quickly occupy the market overseas.

us media conducted a simple comparison between ford's "electric horse" and byd's hiace 07. as pure electric suvs, the hiace 07 has a range of nearly 60 miles (about 100 kilometers) longer than the electric horse, but the top-end version is more than $6,000 cheaper than the low-end version of the electric horse.

data shows that in the first half of 2024, electric vehicles accounted for only 8% of new car sales in the united states. as the electrification transformation fell short of expectations, the biden administration announced in march this year that it would slash its target for electric vehicle sales share in 2032 from 67% to 56%; ford expects its electric vehicle business to lose $5 billion in 2024, and cost reduction has been listed as the "top priority" by the company's top management.

jim farley, ceo of ford: the hardest part is making substantial changes to make the electric vehicle business profitable and reduce costs.

us media: chinese electric vehicles have cost advantages in batteries and other aspects

cnbc tv in the united states pointed out that battery costs currently account for 20% to 30% of the total cost of electric vehicles, and 40% of the cost advantage of chinese electric vehicles comes from battery advantages.

voice source: michael dunn, an american auto industry analyst: byd has performed well in making its own auto parts, with 75% to 80% of the parts produced by themselves. they have mastered the batteries and their supply chain, which obviously helps to reduce costs and control quality.

not only batteries, chinese companies have far lower costs than traditional american automakers such as ford and gm in almost all other categories.

bill russo, an american auto industry analyst: henry ford, the founder of ford motor company, revolutionized the auto industry. he turned cars from "toys" for the rich into something that the working class can afford, and now it is china that is popularizing smart electric cars.

us media: ford executives are shocked by the capabilities of chinese electric vehicles

it is reported that after completing his visit to china in may,ford ceo farley specially arranged to ship electric vehicles from multiple chinese brands, including xiaomi and ideal, to the company's headquarters in michigan, the united states, for the company's senior executives to experience. ford insiders were shocked by the diverse functions of chinese electric vehicles.

cnbc reporter: chinese electric cars are usually equipped with many additional features. for example, i can ventilate the seats to deal with the summer heat. i can adjust the settings to make this electric car sound like a fuel car. i can also ask the ai ​​assistant to help me park, which is very convenient.

us media believe that it is the innovation of chinese electric vehicle companies that has transformed cars from simple means of transportation into one of the interconnected devices in the internet of things.

cnbc: for example, i might not say "turn off the air conditioner" directly, but "oh, i feel cold now." then it (ai) will say "oh, okay, how about i turn down the air conditioner?" and it will sometimes make jokes, and when it exits, it will say goodbye and give a heart.

us media: general motors considers purchasing batteries using catl technology

it is reported that it was the huge gap that he saw during his visit to china.this prompted ford's top management to decide to adjust its strategy in china. instead of seeking to regain lost market share in china, ford will use china as its main export base and benchmark its product research and development and production against china.

william ford, chairman of ford motor, has previously said that despite trade barriers, chinese-branded electric vehicles will certainly enter the us market in large numbers in the future, and us automakers must be prepared. in february 2023, ford announced that it would invest $3.5 billion to build a new electric vehicle battery factory in michigan, usa, using technology provided by catl, which is expected to be put into production in 2026. according to the latest news from bloomberg, general motors, the largest automaker in the united states, has also considered purchasing power batteries produced using catl technology.

bloomberg: it is normal that american automakers have encountered some difficulties in batteries. after all, this is the first time in their 100-year history that they have produced batteries and electric vehicles. it will definitely not be smooth sailing at the beginning. this potential deal is still in the early stages of negotiations and has not yet been finalized. but it may provide an opportunity for american automakers to obtain cheap and very advanced battery technology from china.

(source: cctv news)

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