Prospect of low-priced Chinese EVs reaching US from Mexico poses threat to automakers

https://lemmy.ml/post/17356897

Prospect of low-priced Chinese EVs reaching US from Mexico poses threat to automakers - Lemmy

Or , hear me out, what if US auto makers stop trying to force overpriced oversized trash on us? Maybe try to compete?

Electric cars in the US are more expensive mostly due to higher costs of overhead. For example, we have a minimum wage, and China uses forced labor.

Good luck buying anything made in the US for less money than on AliExpress.

Edit: Is this really the same group of people that want US businesses to divest from Israel, defending products made with the slave labor of Uyghurs?

In Xinjiang, the government is the trafficker. Authorities use threats of physical violence, forcible drug intake, physical and sexual abuse, and torture to force detainees to work in adjacent or off-site factories or worksites producing garments, footwear, carpets, yarn, food products, holiday decorations, building materials, extractives, materials for solar power equipment and other renewable energy components, consumer electronics, bedding, hair products, cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, face masks, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other goods—and these goods are finding their way into businesses and homes around the world.

state.gov/forced-labor-in-chinas-xinjiang-region/

Technical Difficulties

Inside the brutal reality of prison labor where U.S. inmates face injury and lost limbs to fuel major corporations’ supply chains

Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of prisoners are put to work every year, some of whom are seriously injured or killed after being given dangerous jobs with little or no training.

Fortune

I agree. That’s also terrible. They work mostly in farming. If you can avoid these food brands, I suggest you do so.

There are plenty of automobiles manufactured in the US, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the UK that don’t use forced labor. I also recommend supporting those factories instead of China.

Also, your second link about Chinese retirement has nothing to do with Uyghur slave labor.

Hidden prison labor web linked to foods from Target, Walmart

In a sweeping two-year investigation, The Associated Press found goods linked to prisoners wind up in the supply chains of everything from Frosted Flakes cereal and Ball Park hot dogs to Gold Medal flour and Coca-Cola. They are on the shelves of most supermarkets, including Kroger, Target and Whole Foods. They’re also exported. The prisoners who help produce these goods are disproportionately people of color. Some are sentenced to hard labor and forced to work – or face punishment – and are sometimes paid pennies an hour or nothing at all. They also are excluded from protections guaranteed to almost all other full-time workers, even when they are seriously injured or killed on the job. And it can be almost impossible for them to sue.

AP News

There are plenty of automobiles manufactured in the US, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the UK

And they’re all complicit. BMW, Volkswagon, Jaguar Land Rover all source parts from China.

In fact, the entire US supply chain is reliant on Chinese parts.

Earlier this month, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) said it would be temporarily halting production at a plant in Kragujevac, Serbia due to a lack of parts from China, while Hyundai and Renault have done the same in South Korea.

You can whitewash your supply chain by slapping an western label on Chinese parts. But this isn’t demonstrating any kind of concern for labor rights or ethical insourcing. FFS, we won’t even let Volkswagon plants in Tennessee unionize.

Nevermind Uyghur slave labor. Americans can’t even bargain for better salaries. Its too much for our fragile economy to handle.

Senate report finds parts made with China's forced labor in cars by BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and VW

A Senate inquiry has found BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen have bought parts made by a Chinese company sanctioned under a 2021 law for using forced labor. The automakers have responded to a Senate report released Monday by saying they've taken action to bring their cars into compliance with the law. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act bans the entry of products made with forced labor in Xinjiang, where the Uyghur Muslim ethnic group has been persecuted for its religious and cultural beliefs. Lawmakers demand the law be strictly enforced and criticize the automakers for not adequately scrutinizing their supply chains.

AP News

That was true of those brands. They’ve since been pulling out of China, leaving abandoned factories that are now being used by the Chinese market. There are still plenty of other ethical options for automobiles.

Many nations are cracking down on imports related to Uyghur labor.

In December 2021, Congress passed, and President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) – the strongest tool the United States or any other country has forged in the fight against the atrocities of forced labor.

dhs.gov/…/enforcing-uyghur-forced-labor-preventio…

politico.eu/…/china-forced-labor-ban-europe-us-uy…

They’ve since been pulling out of China

Firstly, no they haven’t. US trade with China has only ever increased year-over-year going back to the 1960s.

Secondly, our hunger for cheap labor is sending us to penal colonies across the rest of the Pacific Rim. This isn’t something that began or ended with a single factory in a single country.

Many nations are cracking down on imports related to Uyghur labor.

They’re not. The business is just being laundered through front companies.

Upon the review of the ASPI report, Skechers said it contacted senior management at Luzhou prior to conducting two additional audits of the factory — none of which revealed any indications of forced labor. Luzhou, however, did confirm that members of the Uyghur ethnic group did comprise a portion of its workforce but were employed under compliant terms and conditions.

Shoving thumbs in my ears and saying “I don’t see the non-compliance, its all fine actually!” and letting the provisions go completely unenforced.

And that’s before you get into direct sales through Ali Baba and Temu

Factories May Be Leaving China, but Trade Ties Are Stronger Than They Seem

The United States is trying to lessen its dependence on Chinese goods, but research is showing how tough it is to truly alter global supply chains.

The New York Times

Again, I agree, but my comment was about automobiles. You have the habit of misrepresenting my point.

boydcoddingtonwheels.com/car-companies-pulling-ou…

iwkoeln.de/…/juergen-matthes-competitive-pressure…

ft.com/…/d88955d4-2bc8-476e-9cdb-882ca3c3b10d

reuters.com/…/us-lawmakers-press-automakers-cut-r…

As for other consumer goods, Biden has expanded Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to include more imports.

ustr.gov/issue-areas/…/tariff-actions

Tariffs aren’t great solutions, but the only alternative would be outright banning. The latter would have a sudden and financially profound impact on American consumers.

Car Companies Pulling Out Of China - Boyd Coddington Wheels

Car Companies Pulling Out Of China. With Covid and Taiwan tensions, companies are exploring how to divert their supply chains away from China.

Boyd Coddington Wheels

Again, I agree, but my comment was about automobiles.

Nearly 40% of Honda’s automobile production took place in China in the last financial year.

Honda would continue to keep its supply chain in China for the domestic market in the world’s second-largest economy while building a separate one for markets outside of China, the Sankei said. It did not say where it got the information.

That’s not “pulling out of China”. That’s a sign of Chinese domestic automobile consumption rising.