‘Let them come’
During a visit to ‘car capital’ Detroit, US President Donald Trump emphasized that he is fine with Chinese car brands, as long as they build their cars in the US. The president would even heartily welcome that.
“If they want to come in and build a factory and offer jobs to your friends and neighbors, that’s fantastic. Let China come, let Japan come. They will build factories, but with our workers.” This is just a snippet from Trump’s long speech during a meeting of entrepreneurs in Detroit, who are highly involved with the established auto industry there.
For Chinese car manufacturers in particular, building an American factory has now become the only way to even stand a chance in America, because already under President Biden it was decided that cars built in China would be hit with an import tariff of no less than 100 percent. This partly explains why Chinese car manufacturers are still barely active in the US, although other factors also play a role. One of the few Chinese models that are delivered there is the Lotus Eletre, which, despite its British logo, is a Chinese electric super-SUV. An Eletre Carbon costs no less than $229,900 (€197,334) in the US, while you pay €165,895 for it in the Netherlands, and cars in the US are usually cheaper than here. The Volvo EX90, for example, also an electric Geely product but built in the US, costs just under 70 thousand euros there as a Plus with four-wheel drive. In the Netherlands, you pay €92,995 for the same car.
Although Trump’s heavy import tariffs are intended to protect the American auto industry, the executives in Detroit are certainly not all cheering. American car manufacturers also like to build cars abroad, whether that is Canada, Mexico or Europe. They also face the tariffs, which means the advantage of less foreign competition also has a major disadvantage. The goal of the Trump administration is the same regardless of the brand: to protect the American economy and bring as many jobs as possible to the US and keep them in the US.