China Makes Too Many Cars, and the World Is Increasingly OK With It (bloomberg.com)
- Reference: 0180642880
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/23/1213224/china-makes-too-many-cars-and-the-world-is-increasingly-ok-with-it
- Source link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-01-22/china-makes-too-many-cars-and-the-world-is-increasingly-ok-with-it
The European Union imposed steep tariffs on Chinese EV imports in 2024 and is now considering replacing them with minimum import price agreements. Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney last week decided to allow 49,000 Chinese EVs annually at a 6.1% tariff rate, removing a 100% surtax. Germany announced this week that its $3.5 billion EV subsidy program will be open to all manufacturers including Chinese brands. Germany's environment minister Carsten Schneider dismissed concerns during a January 19 press conference: "I cannot see any evidence of this postulated major influx of Chinese car manufacturers in Germany, either in the figures or on the roads."
BYD registered an eightfold increase in sales in Germany last year and pulled ahead of Tesla, though Volkswagen still registered around 2,300 vehicles for every one BYD sold.
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-01-22/china-makes-too-many-cars-and-the-world-is-increasingly-ok-with-it
In context (Score:3)
In Canada, this allowed quota as a percentage of vehicles sold in the country is in the low single digits. It's symbolic. But... the Canadian auto sector really does not like what it symbolizes. Neither will the US. Right now, Canada makes the cars of other countries - the US, Japan, and Germany. Now, in no way does this mean making Chinese cars is in the cards for Eastern Canada, but the long term chances of that go from zero to not-zero. And given the ongoing destruction of the American relationship, opening the door by just a crack is not a bad idea.
Re: (Score:2)
Really only Tesla (reminder to Trump: an American company owned by your friend who benefits from this) will really benefit from the drop in tariffs. Tesla was importing approximately that many cars per year from China before the tariff. Also they are one of the few companies that can even sell cars in Canada from China because they already meet North American standards. As for the flood of cheap chinese cars, it's not going to happen. Canada is way too small a market for Chinese companies to customize the
Re: (Score:3)
> As for the flood of cheap chinese cars, it's not going to happen. Canada is way too small a market for Chinese companies to customize their offerings to meet safety crash test standards here
I would not bet on that. In the 50, 60, 70s lots of small European makes managed to sell in the American market, it was not about scale because they were still only doing 3 and 4 digit volumes. If in an era before CAD they could come up with US spec bumpers, different intakes and PCV systems to meet US emissions rules that came on in in the late 60s; BYD can slap whatever Canada needs in terms of bumper height, rear camera, etc and crank out enough parts for CA spec versions of their existing models.
Carney
Solar panels (Score:3)
The most important technology product is the solar panel. If we can make that dirt cheap and plentiful, then everything else -- transportation, farming, mining, medical, elderly care, public safety, and robotics will fall into place.
Re: (Score:2)
> The most important technology product is the solar panel. If we can make that dirt cheap and plentiful, then everything else -- transportation, farming, mining, medical, elderly care, public safety, and robotics will fall into place.
I'd say the most important technology product will be the battery attached to that solar panel. You ain't transporting shit without it. And without transportation, everything stops.
Not like the tens of millions living in cities would survive without the CAFOs feeding them. Or any other food factory hundreds of miles away supplying them. We literally transport human survival. Daily.
Tesla (Score:3)
Before the 100% tariff that Canada imposed, almost all Tesla vehicles sold in Canada were manufactured in China, so Tesla was the brand most impacted. I believe that the new deal for 49,000 will end up allowing a lot of Tesla vehicles, and a few EVs that other existing brands make over in Chinese factories, and we're not going to see so many BYD vehicles, as I don't think it's worth setting up dealerships, etc. I suppose BYD might create a partnership with another brand for a few years and use those dealerships. In exchange for the EV deal, China agreed to lower tariffs on canola exports from Canada, which was a big deal for farmers in western Canada.
If China wants larger numbers of EVs, then I suspect the Canadian government will require that BYD or whoever setup a manufacturing plant in Canada as a stipulation. That's similar to Japanese manufacturers.
As a Canadian I'd prefer we avoid too many "deals" with China, but the fact is that the North American free trade agreement is probably not going to get renewed this year (even though Canada is the largest buyer of American-made cars and trucks by far), and we need to rapidly expand our trade with countries other than the US because the US has made it clear that they're going to use trade as leverage to exploit any country that trades with them. That's they're choice, but it means countries are incentivized to diversify away from buying American.
Re: (Score:2)
The Trump administration has been pushing Canada away from US brands, so it's a question whether Tesla will have that much success.
It's a pity that the US is pushing the rest of the world into the arms of China, but it's hard at this point to tell which authoritarian regime will end up worse for the rest of us.
BYD is cooking the books (Score:2)
Chinese companies like BYD are lying about exports for a variety of reasons, the majority of which revolve around scamming the CCP out of export incentives or covering up sales deficits to investors.
[1]https://thenewswheel.com/byd-e... [thenewswheel.com]
[1] https://thenewswheel.com/byd-electric-giant-or-ticking-time-bomb/
Maybe we're finally over it (Score:2, Insightful)
If another country wants to enrich us and impoverish themselves by selling us stuff at below-cost, we should oblige them by purchasing as much as we want.
We should be buying as much Chinese rare earths and as many Chinese solar panels as they're willing to sell. I would be wary of buying a Chinese EV, since their car industry has a bad habit of producing cars that only last 5 years before replacement parts become unavailable. I like to keep my cars for a solid decade or more. But we should let the marke
This Just In (Score:2)
The Trump administration just [1]pushed out [yahoo.com] the official who's unit banned Chinese vehicles.
"Jan 23 (Reuters) - The Trump administration has pushed out a Commerce Department official whose office effectively barred nearly all Chinese cars from the U.S. market for national security reasons, according to people familiar with the matter."
"The sources said that, had she not resigned, Cannon would have been reassigned, and that the new administration plans to put a political appointee in the post. Her last day is e
[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-pushes-official-whose-144415404.html
Re: (Score:2)
> Why this is happening is anyone's guess.
They probably said something unflattering about Trump - that's usually it. I seriously doubt the current administration (or even the next one) is going to change their position on Chinese EVs.
There's a strategic reason why (Score:4, Interesting)
If we go to war with China, we'll have to rely on companies like Anduril, not Raytheon, to supply our military.
Anduril and other startups focus on engineering systems and weapons that can be built with civilian factories, not highly specialized factories that can't scale.
BTW, that's how we won WWII. We didn't produce systems that were capability-at-any-cost. Engineers had to design systems that could be built at civilian factories because that's where the scalability has always been.
the myth of the free market (Score:1)
next time someone tells you this is a free market economy, you know they're an idiot and a republican ...
BS (Score:2)
"though Volkswagen still registered around 2,300 vehicles for every one BYD soldâ That VW figure is including gasoline/hybrids, not full EV.
Things change (Score:3)
I'm old enough to remember my mother telling stories about being chastised for buying the first Celica (a Japanese car) sold into the US market (she was an account at US steel, so you can imagine how that went over). The US and the Japanese have had their day and can't compete with China in this industry.
Re: Things change (Score:2)
You forgot South Korea. However Japanese manufacturing and its economy went down the toilet long before the current rise of china or korea. The electronics manufacturers outsourced to Taiwan, Hong kong (while still under british rule) and Indonesia. Now theyre just a sad shadow of themselves.