The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has shaken up the automotive market with new policies against China. These include a 100 percent increase in tariffs on Chinese cars. Obviously, not everyone agrees with this measure, including the CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares.
Carlos Tavares disagrees with the tariffs on Chinese cars imposed in the USA by the Biden administration
Stellantis plans to start selling Chinese electric vehicles in Europe and other global markets by the end of this year. The automotive group said that the company will begin selling two Leapmotor models at its European dealerships in September, and then expand availability to other markets.
The company’s CEO, Carlos Tavares, acknowledged that the threat of Chinese electric vehicles influenced Stellantis’ decision to collaborate with Leapmotor. “Whether I like it or not, they are taking market share,” Tavares said, as reported by The Guardian. “What I can do is leverage this dynamic.”
Tavares also took a jab at Biden‘s latest protectionist move to prevent Chinese electric vehicles from disrupting the U.S. market. Tavares did not seem very enthusiastic about Biden’s move on tariffs, saying that “we will end up with more inflation inside the bubble.” He added: “Protectionism has many drawbacks. They do not appear immediately, but they appear little by little.”
Carlos Tavares believes that “the supply of Chinese cars in the North American market is very limited,” which is why some brands have not even entered that specific market, as in the case of those that make up Stellantis. The group’s CEO does not see any competition in this sense in the United States, but he does see it in Europe, which is also facing the situation but “with a different approach” than what is seen in the United States. According to Tavares, the import tariffs that will be applied in North America are not the long-term solution to the problem.
Carlos Tavares recalled that the protectionist measures applied to other Asian products, for example in the technology sector, have only contributed to inflation, creating these types of economic problems in China, Europe and the United States. The rise in inflation means that prices are higher, so sales volume will decrease and it will be negative for everyone in general.