undermining regional carmakers
I think the word theyâre looking for is in fact âoutcompeting.â
Yutaro-Katori-with-butterfly-meme: Is this capitalism?
Outcompeting by having a nation subsidize the cost. Until local manufacturers go out of business because they canât compete. Then China owns the entire industry she jacks to the price.
Itâs like no one has been paying attention.
Ah, I see. So itâs cool when we do it (fossil fuel and ag subsidies, the auto industry bailout in 2008, etc.) but not when they do it.
Got it.
Youâre introducing an argument as a way to undermine the viewpoint thatâs opposite to yours.
No one said itâs fine âwhen we do itâ. Thatâs not the point being discussed.
The other bigger issue here is that these new cars are coming from a region that has a horrendous track record for safety and quality. EVs when done right are still a considerable risk with battery fires, but the ones manufactured in China are much worse for quality and safety. In the next few years, as these cars flood markets around the world, it will be a massive issue.
Itâs weird that this has to be explained to Americans - this is how much of Big Tech got to where they are, except they call it âdisruptionâ.
BTW this shows perfectly that free markets are not a be-all-end-all thing. Itâs a tool, and if it produces outcomes that you donât like, you can adjust it for better outcomes. The hypocrisy here is not that they pretend to worship the market then cry foul when China enters it on their terms, but that they do adjust it for their benefit all the time, and only pretend to worship it when people ask for their fair share.
While weâve seen this cycle play out quite a few times in Big Tech, I think a lot of people just arenât aware of what it is. Iâve had friends decry how, âUber is now basically as expensive as a taxi.â I point out how Uber is only recently profitable and see peopleâs minds get blown.
Lmao thereâs a guy who usually posts a long response to these âsubsidiesâ claims bullshit, but I think they got into a pissing match with a mod in the comments and got banned lmao.
Jist of it is: Chinaâs subsidies are negligible compared to the US, and what theyâve actually done is created a competitive domestic market with a large number of players. Unless you think Chinese people are all puppets, even if China (as a country) owns the industry it would not prevent internal competition that drives down prices. Moreover, China does not offer per-unit subsidies on export. In fact, Chinese EVs exported to Europe are something like 40% more expensive than domestically for the same model.
