The "glass heart" of the United States is clearly not proportional to its superpower status.
On May 14, local time, BYD's new energy pickup truck model SHARK held its world premiere ceremony in Mexico. On the same day, the White House issued the latest statement that the tariff rate on electric vehicles from China would be increased from 25% to 100%. It is worth noting that even electric vehicles produced in Mexico, as long as they are Chinese automakers, are no exception and need to be subject to high tariffs (the previous zero-tariff treatment was abolished).
What exactly is the United States afraid of?
After the oil crisis in the 70s of the last century, Japan's small fuel-efficient cars, which are known for their energy saving and sophistication, quickly occupied the US market, and the corresponding business performance of the three major US automobile companies plummeted, and the US-Japan trade war further intensified.
By restricting Japanese car imports, the U.S. auto industry turned around its profits by restricting Japanese car imports and ultimately blocking the scale of Japanese car exports in the United States. Japan, which voluntarily gave in, ushered in the "lost twenty years" and is still being harvested by the hegemony of the dollar.
After 30 years of global cycle, the U.S. auto industry is worried about history repeating itself, because this time the competitor has become China's new energy vehicles, and in this new track, it seems to feel a different kind of pressure.
Looking at the global electric vehicle TOP20 sales data released by CleanTechnica (International Clean Energy Research Institute) in the first quarter of this year, we can see that BYD ranked first in the world with 584,700 sales, opening up the distance between the two sides, and the sales difference between the two sides is about 200,000 units.
The picture was made by Gasgoo
Considering that Tesla has just experienced a near-"disaster" in the first quarter, global sales "flash crash", stock price plummeting, and a large number of layoffs, on the other hand, China's new energy vehicles represented by BYD are soaring, especially as shown in the figure above, as many as 8 Chinese brands have entered the TOP20 list, while only Tesla, Jeep and Ford have been shortlisted for American brands, making China's new energy vehicles a "thorn in the eye" and "thorn in the flesh" in the United States.
At the same time, the Associated Press published a video about BYD Seagull (Seagull) some time ago, which mentioned that the Seagull's driving performance is very good, and the assembly process is comparable to that of an electric car made in the United States, but the price of an electric car made in the United States is 3 times that of it, which makes the United States afraid and builds a "high wall" of tariff barriers. In fact, BYD executives have also made it clear that its passenger car business does not plan to enter the U.S. market, but the United States still preaches the "BYD threat theory" as always, and regards BYD as a beast, which can be described as complete wishful thinking and overthinking!
In any case, the "stick" of tariffs in the United States has been waved, and new energy vehicles, as a strategic choice for the high-quality development of the mainland automobile industry, will also be unswervingly implemented, which means that the follow-up "bayonet red" type of battle cannot be avoided. The competition around new energy vehicles will become a key part of the development of technical standards for the world's leading industries in China and the United States.
As our new energy vehicles continue to increase the right to speak in the whole field, the balance of victory will undoubtedly continue to favor our side, and the next step is to continue to work hard for Chinese car companies to fight for the glory of Chinese auto brands and made in China with sweat.
Conclusion: Give up the illusion that the United States will lower tariffs on its own in the future, because judging from the current poll results, the more radical and leftist Trump is expected to return to the White House by the end of this year, believing in trade isolation and America First, and he may wield the "big stick" of tariffs even higher. But we are well prepared, we have been ready to see the move, this moment of change in the global automotive industry has not been seen in a century, I believe we will be the final winner.