Despite his Transportation Secretary’s claim that the administration wants the U.S. to dominate automotive manufacturing, Pres. Joe Biden’s actions are actually helping China to do just that – and at the expense of national security.
“[T]he president is strengthening China’s hand, primarily because he is actively trying to ban the auto industry’s most vital sector: cars with internal combustion engines,” Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) explains in “Biden is enabling the impending automotive bloodbath,” published Wednesday in The Washington Examiner.
At the same time that he’s banning reliable, popular, gas-powered cars, Biden is also helping China gain dominance of the market for their replacements: electric vehicles, Rubio notes.
Biden’s even sticking American taxpayers with the bill, the senator writes:
“Specifically, he is waiving “Buy American” requirements for EV chargers, meaning U.S. taxpayers are funding the deployment of Chinese charging stations across the country.”
Additionally, Chinese auto companies are beginning to manufacture vehicles in Mexico, where they’ll be able to avoid all tariffs on imports to the U.S., courtesy of a trade agreement with Mexico, Rubio warns:
“U.S. companies are already raising the alarm about what’s coming, calling China’s backdoor in Mexico an ‘extinction-level’ threat. Former President Donald Trump rightly predicted it could precipitate a ‘bloodbath’ for the industry.”
Finally, Rubio warns of the security risks of the computer systems in Chinese electric vehicles, which can track drivers, collect their personal information, and even be turned off remotely by the hostile Communist regime.
Despite its concessions to China, the Biden Administration continues to stress the importance of protecting the U.S. auto market from China, especially in the EV sector.
In an interview with Fox News this week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg claimed that Pres. Biden is trying to ensure China doesn’t surpass the U.S. in EV auto manufacturing:
“The reality is that the automotive sector is moving towards EVs, and the U.S. can either fall behind China or we can claim the lead. President Biden wants to make sure that those EVs are made in America, especially again as more Americans choose EVs every single year than the year before.”
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"We've got to make sure that those are made on American soil in places like northern Indiana, where I grew up, places like Michigan, where I live right now.”
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"We've been working to make sure that that advantage comes back onto American soil."
"[W]e can't afford to fall behind China," Buttigieg said.