EMILY FENG, HOST:
There aren't many areas of consensus between Democrats and Republicans, and certainly not many policy issues that former President Biden and President Trump agree on. But one rare example is U.S. policy towards Chinese electric vehicles. President Biden imposed a 100% tariff on them about two years ago when he was in office.
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JOE BIDEN: 'Cause we're not going to let China flood our market, making it impossible for American auto manufacturers to compete fairly.
FENG: And President Trump spoke about the same issue earlier last month, in an interview on Fox News.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We don't have any Chinese cars in our country because they would have destroyed General Motors, Ford. They would have destroyed these companies if they did it.
FENG: Joining us now from Michigan is Wall Street Journal reporter Ryan Felton, who has been writing about these Chinese vehicles that are nonetheless already making their way into the U.S. Welcome to the program, Ryan.
RYAN FELTON: Thanks so much for having me.
FENG: So why is there so much consensus across both parties in the U.S. on preventing Chinese EVs from entering the U.S. market?
FELTON: The issue itself is kind of broken down into a couple camps. One, being a national security issue where there's this concern that these cars can drive around, collect up a bunch of data from just the drivers themselves down to, you know, what if these cars are traveling past military bases and other sensitive locations? And then the other side of it is the economic argument, where these cars - if they came in, there's a threat of market share from the automakers who are already here being lost and potential job losses that could result from that.
FENG: Right. These cars made in China are often much cheaper than EVs sold in the U.S., and I'm a longtime China reporter, and so I know that some of these cars are quite advanced, the ones that are being made by Chinese companies. How did Chinese companies leap so far ahead on electric vehicles in a pretty short period of time?
FELTON: To boil it down, they had many, many years in working locally in China, through joint ventures with American counterparts to make cars for the local market. So they learned a lot about just the process of how to make a car. But then, you know, I'd say probably in the last five, 10 years, they really ramped up with all the other stuff that it's good at - making good software that is intuitive that people are - enjoy using and are comfortable using and reshaping the idea of a vehicle.
FENG: And despite U.S. efforts, there are, as you write, some Chinese EVs that are already cruising down American roads. How is that happening?
FELTON: It's sort of an interesting phenomenon because, you know, for decades, we've allowed cross-border traffic between Mexico and Canada. But in this current moment, Chinese brands are in Mexico. There's dealers in border towns, you know, from San Diego all the way across to Texas, that are selling these cars. And so you have folks who are dual citizens who do that sort of cross-border commuting. So there are these pockets of the country that are able to get a firsthand look at these cars that we can't buy right now.
FENG: Is it inevitable that Chinese EVs will eventually enter the U.S. market in a much bigger way?
FELTON: I think a lot of executives are resigned to the idea that this is going to happen at some point. I think a couple striking things coming out of the Beijing auto show that I saw and took in was even in this current political environment that is so across-the-board against the idea of Chinese carmakers coming here, there's still a desire to try to figure out how to break in here. And I think that's why you have so many automaker executives who are resigned to the idea that it will one day happen.
FENG: Ryan Felton is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, where he covers the automotive industry. Thanks, Ryan.
FELTON: Thanks so much.
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