Over the last few months, it has become clear that the electric vehicle (EV) industry is transitioning from heavy government subsidies to greater emphasis on regional protectionism. In July, the EU ramped up its eurozone protection by imposing tariffs on Chinese BYD (+17.4%), Geely (+19.9%), and China’s state-owned SAIC (up $37.6%), which collaborates with Baidu to develop its Apollo Go robotaxi service.
At the same time, the European Commission slashed tariffs on China-built Tesla EVs from 20.8% to 9%. Most recently, Canada joined the trend as it will place a 100% tariff on China-made EVs, in addition to aluminum and steel exports by 25%, as of October 1st and October 15th, respectively.
Due to US-imposed tariffs on Chinese EVs and batteries in May, this…
