• Steve ( Steve@communick.news ) 
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    5 months ago

    The Chinese government is intentionally subsidizing, and incentivizing their car companies to over produce and under price vehicles, in an attempt to take over global clean energy tech. Just like when Amazon sold diapers at a loss for several years, once all the “competition” is gone they’ll either raise prices or use that leverage to gain more leverage in another sector. They’ve already done it with solar manufacturing. Batteries practically belong to them now. Vehicles are next.

    Legislating against a hostile market takeover like this isn’t a bad thing. Biden knew it. That’s why he put on the 100% tariff on them to begin with. Other vehicles don’t suck they way people like to think they do. They just aren’t super cheep. China’s are so cheep because the Chinese government is paying for half the car.

    • tyler ( tyler@programming.dev ) 
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      29
      ·
      5 months ago

      The U.S. government subsidizes the auto industry vastly more than china. It’s not some secret that you subsidize industries you want to thrive. The U.S. is just unable to compete, even without the subsidies (the tariffs at 100% still don’t bring Chinese car costs up enough to make American vehicles compete). And no, China isn’t paying half the cost. It’s like 10%. I am not going to bother looking up the source I’ve used in the past to argue with someone whose economic education involves the word “cheep”.

    • Schwim Dandy ( schwim@piefed.zip ) 
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      5 months ago

      Legislating against a hostile market takeover like this isn’t a bad thing.

      I understand your point but your analogy would only work if Amazon were trying to convince the country that diapers were a sham, destroying the earth and inferior to swaddling your baby in poison ivy leaves.

      I hope China continues to subsidize the fuck out of the cars and I hope the world starts buying them, Tesla goes under and my government is left trying to explain to their constituents how, exactly, petroleum fuel is still the only logical answer and then explains why we can’t have a Chinese-made EV like the rest of the world.

      in an attempt to take over global clean energy tech.

      Don’t look now, but that ship has sailed. They are the global leaders in that tech. We could have competed if the dolts that put our current administration didn’t lack the critical thought to realize they were being lied to about solar, wind and electric. Now, the only card the US can play is to try to block the smarter countries from competing.

      • Steve ( Steve@communick.news ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        5 months ago

        I hope China continues to subsidize the fuck out of the cars and I hope the world starts buying them

        You kinda have to hope they do. What happens when all the other manufactures are gone and Chinese companies start charging what the cars actually cost, or more? That’s what amazon did. Now everybody with a baby is forked.

        Don’t look now, but that ship has sailed. They are the global leaders in that tech.

        I said exactly as much. Their takeover of solar and batteries are more or less done. Vehicles are next. I’m sure they have other markets planed after that.

        inferior to swaddling your baby in poison ivy leaves.

        Fun fact: I’m not allergic to poison ivy. It was a pretty cool super power growing up.

        • Schwim Dandy ( schwim@piefed.zip ) 
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          5 months ago

          Fun fact: I’m not allergic to poison ivy. It was a pretty cool super power growing up.

          I think I got your allergy to it on top of mine. I’m so allergic, I got something called compartmentalization of the arm and almost lost it due to the reaction to poison ivy and not going to the doctor quickly enough as my arm swelled.

    • Hanrahan ( hanrahan@slrpnk.net ) 
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      5 months ago

      Your argument would carry sone gravitas if the US wasn’t doing the same thing subsidizing the US automobile industry, except in that case the industry became bloated, complacent and uncompetitive and needed even farther protection with moah tariffs

      where as while the Chinese government subsidized for sure, they ended up building a cutting edge super competitive industry building vehicles the world wants.

      The Ford, Toyota and Honda CEO have said the main reason is build quality, value, automaton and robotics, they can design and build a car in months and have hardly a person on the assembly line.

      https://moneywise.com/auto/auto/toyota-honda-ford-ceos-warning-china-portfolio

      • Steve ( Steve@communick.news ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        5 months ago

        Kinda. Yah. That has very little to do with anything. Everyone already buys and sells whatever data they want. It doesn’t matter much who collects it. It’ll be available to the US if they want it.

    • RamenJunkie ( RamenJunkie@midwest.social ) 
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      5 months ago

      Maybe US vehicles should be super cheap by having the US government pay for half the car. Oh wait, the sellers won’t reduce the prices, they will just siphon that discount up to the vulture class investors. Because US companies are fucking shit and don’t care about consumers.

      That is why they lost. That is why everything in the US is going to shit, not just EVs. Because fucking everything is about MaXimUm pRoFitS for fucking useless “investors”

      • Steve ( Steve@communick.news ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        Then where are giant lots filled with millions of unsold vehicles like in China? They don’t exist, because the government isn’t guaranteeing the value of the cars mandating their production. Because they aren’t doing the same thing.

        • Zetta ( Zetta@mander.xyz ) 
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          5 months ago

          I think you’re bullshitting, Chinese evs are so cheap and plentiful because of hyper competition in their local market. They are cheap again because of extreme competition. China is better than the us at manufacturing and making things cheap, it’s a fact.