The US wants to sideline Chinese EV manufacturers

In the US, a new law has been passed that allows EV manufacturers who manufacture their cars in the US to sell those cars with significant tax breaks. Also, work is being done on the regulations for the use of raw materials from foreign countries. With this, the government wants to prevent shifting of manufacturing to China and import of Chinese raw materials.

China should be sidelined

However, the law also means that European manufacturers of EVs are at risk of being sidelined in the US. A possible exception to that rule is still being negotiated, but German news channels report that Audi is already considering making some of its EVs in the United States.

It should be clear that the U.S With this Especially to sideline China. Europe is, so to speak, ‘collateral damage’. Meanwhile, in America too Ford The carmaker has come under fire for wanting to use Chinese technology to make batteries for its EVs. US politicians also want to put an end to this by canceling the tax breaks that companies get if they use (too much) Chinese technology for manufacturing.

You have yourself to blame!?

To say that China and the West are not doing well economically is an understatement. The two world powers are more or less at odds with each other, as many Western companies have shifted their production to cheaper China in recent decades. After that, Chinese companies – backed by their own government – took that knowledge and technology and became a superpower themselves.

We have already seen this happening in the smartphone and telecom market. Then the West panicked, driven by the fear of espionage, and launched all sorts of economic and other restrictions in an attempt to curb China’s power.

Now we see the same situation happening in the auto industry. First we transfer our knowledge and technology to ‘cheap’ Chinese manufacturers, and then we are surprised when they use our technology to improve their own competitive position in the West. Consequently, separate laws and other regulatory provisions must be enacted, enacted and enforced.

Not over yet

The end of this battle is yet to be seen. Certainly not now as the US has introduced yet another new restrictive law. Certainly fresh in our minds is the decision by the US, Japan and the Netherlands to block China from acquiring cutting-edge chip-making technology. A technology that is one of the pioneers of Dutch ASML.