Dr. G7

Very true. However Piech and Porsche are both German (kinda.) maybe not much Chinese?

Piëch Porsche disputes are legends. Including Winterkorn (VW) protégé of Mr. Piëch’s and Wolfgang Porsche sheer contempt for Winterkorn

However we may be way off subject. This subform is USED EV SALES WAY UP, SURPASS NEW

kayjh

If Canada and the US are smart they will jack up tariffs to the point that Chinese cars won't be economically viable here. But the American manufacturers will lose their market share in China, including Tesla. Why do I think this is a good move? Because China has already beat the US in the EV manufacturing game. It has a lower cost for rare earth metals and controls what the rest of the world pays for them and it uses much cheaper labour to produce cars. It has grown to be the 2nd (or is it now the largest) economy in the world. How? By selling cheap stuff to us at Walmart and beyond.

At present, North America EVs can't compete on price. So, we can decide to pay more for EVs made in America, or we can let a flood of cheaper Chinese vehicles into the country an watch China use the profits to build even more warships to outstrip anything the west has. Then, they'll have Taiwan and TSMC and we'll be driving horse and buggies again.

CodyBigdog

In reverse order:

- Taiwan, and in particular, TSMC chip manufacturing is absolutely of critical/vital importance to US security. Their importance to the US DoD and IC is absolutely critical until such time that the US invests MORE into making advanced chips here in the US. I’m pretty confident the US would go to war against China, if it came to it, to defend Taiwan….and I’m also just as sure that China knows this. The wild card here is when, or if, the US will do more investing in its own chip manufacturing capabilities?

- The emergence of solid-state batteries, with different chemistry, will change the EV battery balance with China. The US has, for decades, been a world leader when it came to advanced R&D. GPS, cell phones, advanced coms systems, Laser technology, etc, etc all came fro the US Gov investment in high tech. But some, in an effort to “cut costs”, want to significantly reduce that portion of spending. That, IMO, would be a huge mistake, as we continue to remain economically and militarily competitive with China.

- While taxing the hell out of Chinese EV imports will help US EV manufacturing companies remain (price) competitive, the US consumer will ultimately end up paying for it, by limiting access to cheaper EV’s. If the National goal is to get 75%-100% conversion to EV’s in the next 20 years, or so, many issues will need to be addressed…not least of which is the affordability factor for the average consumer. As it is now, every EV owner that I know would be classified in the top 10%, and most in my neighborhood that have EV’s, are in the 1% category….where price is not a factor.

- The emergence of robotics and AI in manufacturing plants is, and will continue to drive prices down. Fewer people will be needed to build a car. The costs will be front-loaded for advanced manufacturing tools, with decreasing dependence on humans.

- When I look at any of the big 3 US EV car makers, I don’t think of innovation or sleek designs. That is a generalization, and I know there are exceptions. I look to the small start-ups when it comes to being more cutting edge and innovative. But most are focused on making more expensive products for the 1-10%, and not for the masses.

- Finally, I look to history when trying to predict the future. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, the Japanese invaded the US car market in a big way. The offerings from Toyota and Honda put the US car manufacturers on their heels…but the big 3 survived, learned and adapted. I expect if the Chinese brands did flood the US market (won’t happen), the big 3 will learn to adap, again. Ultimately, it’s the consumer that benefits by having more choices, and many of them, being cheaper.

Larson E. Rapp

Also need to keep in mind that TSMC is worthless to China. Some conspiracy theories allude to the whole place being wired with explosives that the Taiwanese will set off in the event of an attack, but the reality is that this would be a waste of good explosives that would be better used on the invaders. TSMC can produce absolutely nothing without extensive material and maintenance support from the West, and I mean extensive.

The stroke of a pen in Washington would have the same effect as dropping a nuke. There is no reason to fear a Chinese takeover of TSMC. That might or might not be true of Taiwan in general, though. It would be insanely stupid of Xi to invade Taiwan... but then everybody said it would be insanely stupid of Putin to invade Ukraine, and he did it anyway.

CodyBigdog

I suspect in any invasion of Taiwan, TSMC would be destroyed by Chinese missiles, in the process. If no other reason than to eliminate any critical reasoning for the US to go to war with China. If a major reason for defending Taiwan was eliminated, early on in any conflict., that’s something I would think, Chinese military strategists would plan. IMO.

But I’m not a military strategist, so don’t know…but knowing how important it is to the DoD and IC, that’s what I would do before the US committed any troops, etc to the conflict. It would be an early casualty, IMO. Politically driven commitments to defend a country by shedding US lives is one thing, but actually honoring that commitment, IMO, there has to be a real reason other than for ideological reasons. At least I hope we learned that lesson in Viet Nam, and then in Iraq and Afghanistan. If the US and the EU can’t even continue to honor just their financial commitment/support to Ukrainian, I would not expect the US or it’s allies to shed any blood defending Taiwan, and especially if the main, pragmatic reason to defend it, ie, TSMC, had been destroyed at the outset.