Kumbaya - Chinese Electric Vehicles Finally Give America’s 2 Political Parties Something To Agree Upon

Both American political parties want to limit Chinese EV imports. Some thoughts on a rare point of agreement between Presidents Biden and Trump.

In America’s bipolar politics, if one side is pro-sandwiches with crust, the other side MUST be anti-sandwiches with crust. Some unwritten rule mandates this. In the middle, the undecided voters of a few swing states can choose with or without crust every four years to decide who gets to pretend to be the party in charge. However, there is one specific issue on which both political parties and both parties’ Presidents agree wholeheartedly. Tariffs on Chinese battery-electric vehicles.

If we are speaking honestly, it isn’t really the tariff the parties agree on. It’s keeping Chinese EVs from being sold in America in any volume. Neither President Trump, nor President Biden want Chinese-made vehicles of any type being sold in any decent volume in America, and there isn’t just one reason they feel so strongly on the issue. However, one reason does loom large. 

President Biden and his political party are beholden to America’s United Auto Workers and money from their union dues. Don't take our word for it. Here are some things President Biden himself has said on the topic. The links take you to the White House page.:

August 5th, 2021 “I just want to be very straightforward.  You know, UAW “brung me to the dance,” as they say.”
January 24, 2024 “Look, I kept my commitment to be the most pro-union president ever, and I’m proud you have my back. Let me just say I’m honored to have your back and you have mine. That’s the deal…We build in America, and we buy American…Look, since I came to office, with your help, we’ve created 14 million new jobs — 14 million — nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs nationwide.”

Saying the only reason that President Biden doesn’t want Chinese vehicles to gain any significant market share in the US is only because of the UAW is an oversimplification, but it is an easy explanation.

President Trump also wants unions to support him and his party, and they may have made an impact on the 2024 elections still underway (take your time, California and Alaska). Statista says that “According to exit polling in ten key states of the 2024 presidential election in the United States, roughly 45 percent of voters with someone in their household belonging to a labor union voted for Donald Trump.  In comparison, 53 percent reported voting for Kamala Harris.” Without those important votes in key states, the red wave may have been a touch more purple.

President Trump teaming up with Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, the world's second-largest manufacturer of electric vehicles may be playing a role here, though his love of tariffs on China predates that bromance. 

Here is what President Trump said this past July about Chinese-made EVs coming into the American market: “...if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath for the whole, that’s going to be the least of it. It’s bloodbath for the whole, that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it. But they’re not gonna sell those cars.”

Is it just two men, two Presidents, who want to keep Chinese EVs out of the American market? Politico conveniently provides the answer, writing on this subject: 

In February, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) proposed a new 100 percent tariff on Chinese automobiles, in addition to the 27.5 percent already in effect. And Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has written a trio of bills taking aim at Chinese EVs that would slap a flat $20,000 tariff on Chinese vehicle imports and seek to close import loopholes.

On March 7, Rust Belt Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan wrote the Commerce Department to ask that it “maintain or increase” existing tariffs on Chinese autos and examine the national security threat posed by high-tech, highly connected Chinese vehicles.

“Artificially low-priced Chinese EVs flooding the U.S. would cost thousands of American jobs and endanger the survival of the U.S. automotive industry as a whole,” the senators wrote.

With the leadership of both political parties against  Chinse-made EVs and a bipartisan group of Senators holding hands and singing from the same hymnbook, it is remarkable that the mainstream media have not been highlighting this rare area of agreement. 

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John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ Grammarly grammar and punctuation software when proofreading. 

Logo image courtesy of UAW.