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Biden Calls Chinese Electric Vehicles a Security Threat
The president ordered an investigation into auto technology that could track U.S. drivers, part of a broader effort to stop E.V. and other smart-car imports from China.
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The assembly line at a production facility for Nio, a maker of electric cars, in Hefei, China. Credit...Qilai Shen for The New York Times
By Jim Tankersley
Jim Tankersley is an economics reporter who covers policy at the White House.
Feb. 29, 2024Updated 9:44 a.m. ET
President Biden took steps on Thursday toward blocking internet-connected Chinese cars and trucks from entry to the American auto market, including electric vehicles, saying they posed risks to national security because their operating systems could send sensitive information to Beijing.
The immediate action was the opening of a Commerce Department investigation into security threats, which could lead to new regulations or restrictions on Chinese vehicles.
But administration officials made clear it was the first step in what could be a wide range of policy responses meant to stop low-cost Chinese electric vehicles — either manufactured in China or assembled by Chinese companies in countries like Mexico — from flooding the U.S. market and potentially driving domestic automakers out of business.
China has rapidly scaled up its production of electric vehicles in recent years, setting it on a collision course with Mr. Biden’s industrial policy efforts that seek to help American automakers dominate that market at home and abroad. Some of its smaller cars sell for less than $11,000 each — significantly less than a comparable American-made electric vehicle.
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The administration’s actions on Thursday come as Mr. Biden’s likely opponent in November, former President Donald J. Trump, criticizes him for pushing automakers toward electric vehicles — and as each of the candidates tries to cast himself as tougher on China.
The Rise of Electric Vehicles Betting on Nostalgia: Volkswagen is trying to regain the status and sales it enjoyed in the United States in the 1960s with electric cars that nod to some popular models from its heydays. Promising and Scary: In Michigan, a presidential battleground state, electric vehicles are emerging as a contested piece of the economic future: Is the shift to such vehicles a fresh source of dynamism and paychecks, or the latest reason to fret about the fate of American factory workers? China’s Tesla Killer: BYD, the Chinese electric vehicle company surpassed Tesla in worldwide sales of fully electric cars and is continuing to grow. Here’s what’s behind its success. Losing Luster: Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck was once in hot demand. But some buyers said it did not meet expectations, and Ford has slashed its production plans because of lagging sales.
The measures stemmed from conversations with Detroit automakers, union autoworkers and the E.V. giant Tesla, which was recently supplanted by Chinese company BYD as the world’s biggest seller of electric cars.
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Jim Tankersley writes about economic policy at the White House and how it affects the country and the world. He has covered the topic for more than a dozen years in Washington, with a focus on the middle class. More about Jim Tankersley
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