Zac Quinn 
It wasn’t too long ago that we covered a story on the international expansion of Chinese EV manufacturers, specifically the expansion into the United States. In that article, it was revealed that U.S. consumers have expressed interest in purchasing electric vehicles imported from China if they come at a cheaper cost than what’s offered by U.S. Manufacturers. However, we know that there’s no such thing as a cheap electric vehicle, as even Tesla has abandoned its long-held plans to make a more affordable car in the midst of the ever-increasing cost of manufacturing these vehicles. Except, that’s exactly what Chinese EVs are. Cheap. Suspiciously cheap.
We’re sure the question didn’t ask people if they were concerned about the ethics of why some Chinese-built electric vehicles are made cheaper than American-made EVs. But, it seems that won’t be much of a concern anymore as U.S. President Joe Biden has decided to hit China-built EVs with a heaping dose of tariffs. What does that mean exactly? That means that the United States can and will apply additional taxes to EVs imported from China to the country; this would make the importation of these vehicles more challenging for companies such as Polestar and BYD.
The Biden tariff on Chinese EVs is 100 percent on top of each vehicle’s price.
The increase in taxes on Chinese EV imports would even the playing field, so to speak. It would ensure that United States manufacturers are able to keep up and remain competitive against these cheaper vehicles that exercise more questionable production methods.
While this doesn’t appear to be a remarkable turn of events for consumers who will be losing the potential of a cheaper EV option, it’s hard to say that it’s necessarily a bad thing as it means U.S. manufacturers won’t lag behind with the importation of Chinese EVs. Right now, it’s unclear how big of an impact these tariffs will have on Chinese electric vehicle sales, according to Reuters, that will depend significantly on the U.S. trade levy.
Now, while this might be a popular mandate among several groups, tariffs are the same reason why we don’t see many small trucks imported from other countries to the United States, such as the Ram Rampage in Brazil, or the Chevrolet Montana. The “Chicken Tax” law demands more local manufacturing. Which, in the case of the Rampage, we just might get.
The tariffs put in place by Biden are misleading, these cars will be made in Mexico, hence no tariffs.
While Chinese OEMs are amassing a manufacturing footprint in Mexico, other American laws (Inflation Reduction Act) mandate that the battery manufacturing take place in the USA “with most of their battery components and battery minerals produced in North America and with 40% of the critical minerals used to create a vehicle’s battery to be extracted or processed in the United States, or a country that has a U.S. free trade deal.” So it’s up to automakers like BYD and others to assess if that’s a road they want to take.