While this is a step forward, countering the Chinese auto threat will be a massive, marathon climb that will require both industrial investment and aggressive trade policy.
Vice President Kamala Harris announced. over $100 million In a speech in Detroit on Monday, he talked about new funding and resources for small and medium-sized automakers. The announcement comes as the Biden administration seeks to establish the United States as a global leader in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.
Still, the U.S. auto industry and the millions of American workers it employs continues to grapple with the ticking time bomb of cheap Chinese EVs. first It is expected to hit the U.S. market this summer.
“The strength of the U.S. economy is also based on the strength of our supply chain,” Harris said. “If it wasn’t obvious before, we’ve all learned it during the pandemic. This investment will keep the auto supply chain here in America, strengthen the entire American economy, and create jobs right here in Detroit.” It helps maintain it.”
As Harris announced, the Department of Energy (DOE) will provide $100 million to help automakers transition away from internal combustion engine parts and begin production in the EV supply chain, and small and medium-sized businesses The Agency has created a new financing program for these automakers. Maker. These funding opportunities follow the Inflation Control Act’s $55.1 billion investment in U.S. battery manufacturing and $16.1 billion in EV factories, and efforts to date are paying off.
Since President Biden took office, private companies have announced: Over $170 billion The White House says the auto industry has added more than 90,000 jobs as investment in EV and battery manufacturing increased significantly.
However, as bloomberg The company states that “the greatest transformation in the automotive industry in a century is underway.” The problem is that China has had a long head start with an economy divorced from true market forces, producing millions of more EVs than Chinese consumers want.
Since 2001, the Chinese government has aimed to dominate the global electric vehicle market, making the technology a top priority in the same year’s 10th Five-Year Plan. The Chinese government continues to enrich its automakers and manufacturers with government funds throughout the EV supply chain, which is closely intertwined with the country’s Uyghur forced labor program. It’s never fair game to pit American-made EVs against their Chinese rivals.
The Biden administration’s latest funding announcement serves to ensure the U.S. auto industry can transition to an EV future without sacrificing factory jobs that support local communities, but the Biden administration’s latest funding announcement serves to ensure the U.S. auto industry can transition to an EV future without sacrificing factory jobs that support local communities. The time has passed to get serious about protecting the industry. The United States needs to combine U.S. industrial investment in EVs with strong, aggressive trade policy. That would mean imposing exclusionary tariffs, up to a ban, on all Chinese car imports.
Below are thoughts from Scott Paul, president of the American Federation of Manufacturers, shared in a recent article. NPR Story:
“We’ve seen this happen in other industries in the past,” he says. “We need to be proactive, not reactive. Just by cleaning up the mess, we are seeing factories destroyed, jobs destroyed, and communities devastated. ”
