Hyperdrive
Trump's Tariffs on Chinese Electric Cars Seen Likely to Last
- U.S. to use tariffs to block plug-in vehicles, consultant says
- President’s threats viewed as strategy to protect technology
This article is for subscribers only.
With China bent on dominating the future of electric vehicles, President Donald Trump is likely to erect trade barriers targeting that technology in the form of stiff new tariffs that will have staying power, according to a consultant on the country’s auto market.
“I expect that President Trump will keep tariffs on electric cars as high as he possibly can,” Michael Dunne, chief executive officer of consultancy ZoZo Go, said Monday in a speech to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit. “He can see all this capacity gathering in China, and they’re bound to want to export to the U.S., so ‘let’s not make that easy.’”