Caffeinated Politics

While the rest of the world accelerates toward an electric vehicle future, the United States clings to a past powered by gasoline and nostalgia. From Oslo to Shanghai governments, and automakers are investing billions in electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, battery innovation, and clean energy transitions. Yet in Washington, the Donald Trump administration continues to champion gas-guzzling trucks and rollback emissions standards, as if Detroit’s salvation lies in the rearview mirror.

It doesn’t.

Today the Chicago Tribune had an editorial that deserves attention as it strikes to the core of what Detroit needs to do for its future as the world pivots towards EV technology.

When the federal government’s electric-vehicle tax credits expired on Sept. 30, Hyundai made its move. The Korean automaker knocked as much as $10,000 off the price of its EVs in the U.S., more than making up for the taxpayer-funded $7,500 credit the GOP canceled years ahead of schedule in its “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Regarding strong competition from China’s automakers the editorial board made their views very clear.

As a temporary measure giving U.S. automakers an opportunity to play catch-up, the tariffs are understandable. But permanent protectionism is poison for innovation. Those trade barriers hurt American consumers who otherwise could be saving a fortune on their next vehicle purchase. And history shows that trade barriers can’t be sustained forever. America must gear up to beat its Chinese competitors mano a mano — and that’s not happening.

The Trump administration appears content to keep trade barriers in place and encourage Detroit to make gas-powered SUVs and pickup trucks for as long as possible. In that scenario, America’s expensive EVs are destined to be niche players at home and abroad. There’s also the question of whether Americans want — or can afford — electric vehicles.

If that’s the extent of the policy, the world will move on, and Detroit will be left in the dust. EV sales this year are expected to exceed 20 million vehicles, and China will make two-thirds of them, including millions for export. Anyone who thinks EVs are going away isn’t paying attention to the global market, especially emerging markets where, absent trade barriers, affordable Chinese models dominate.

Most Americans don’t recognize company names like BYD, Geely and Great Wall, but you’d better believe the Big Three know them. Ford’s Jim Farley has called China’s progress on EVs “the most humbling thing I have ever seen,” and said it poses a “colossal” threat to Ford’s future.

Chinese EV makers, bolstered by significant government subsidies, have built a big advantage in manufacturing capacity, speed of design, supply-chain networks and, especially, price. While all EVs are cheap to operate over their lifetimes – no gas required, few moving parts to repair — China is making high-quality vehicles at astonishingly low sticker prices. American automakers can’t come close.

We know that Europe has set aggressive targets to phase out internal combustion engines. For instance, while France has a goal to ban the sale of new fossil fuel cars by 2040, a broader European Union regulation will prohibit the sale of new gas and diesel cars by 2035. Smart policymakers such as China with regards to the world’s largest auto market, is rapidly electrifying its fleet, with domestic brands like BYD and NIO outpacing legacy automakers in innovation and scale. Even India, with its infrastructural challenges, is investing heavily in EVs to combat urban pollution and reduce oil dependency.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is making itself into a worldwide joke regarding EV technology for one awful reason. We have allowed the lack of political leadership on the issue to reign. The Trump administration’s rollback of fuel efficiency standards and its rhetorical embrace of “American muscle” cars may play well to a certain base of white men whose yearning for the past has a very definite shelflife, but it ignores the economic and environmental realities shaping global markets.

The Tribune offered a starting point for moving towards a logical policy going forward.

To get the EV market moving again, it’s time to consider relaxing the trade barriers, with important conditions: Chinese automakers should be required to assemble cars in the U.S., ideally through joint ventures with American automakers. Their cars must meet U.S. safety standards and pass inspection for spyware and other dirty tricks the Chinese might try to embed into these rolling computers.

I am not a fan of tariffs for the most part, as I think free trade is a far better process for a competitive marketplace that better serves people across the world. I did not like the tariffs that President Biden would not jettison, nor the ones Donald Trump foolishly created on whims. Detroit once was the site where American ingenuity allowed for a nation to applaud. Therefore, it must be said that Detroit doesn’t need protectionism. It needs a solid kick in the pants to walk away from gas guzzling combustion engines and align itself with a world that is more and more carbon conscious.

Detroit doesn’t need protectionism. It needs to get with the EV program that will make it a world leader again.