Tesla competitor BYD bringing its cheapest Seagull EV to Europe as Biden prepares to slap 100% tariff on Chinese cars

After launching an investigation into the import of car parts and the production expansion of Chinese automakers in Mexico, the White House is preparing to slap prohibitive tariffs on cars made in China.

President Biden's administration will reportedly be increasing the current 25% import tariff on Chinese EVs to the whopping 100%, essentially pricing them out of the US market. In fact, an extra 2.5% tax will be applied to all cars imported in the US to help local automakers remain competitive.

While Chinese EV and battery companies have been increasing their presence in Mexico and Latin America as a potential backdoor to the North American market, they have been avoiding direct imports anyway, citing a soft demand.

The new tariffs may simply confirm what they knew all along, that the US will be off limits for direct sales of Chinese cars and batteries in the foreseeable future.

China has tasked them with exporting their overcapacity abroad, however, and "new energy vehicles" from BYD and others have been piling by the tens of thousands on European port parking lots since the beginning of the year.

Europe is also deciding on whether and how much import tax it should slap on Chinese cars that are threatening its own automotive industry.

Those tariffs, however, may not apply to cars made in the EU, and BYD said that it will be building a second car factory in Hungary next year, with President Xi visiting there during its European trip this week. 

BYD said that it will be bringing its cheapest Seagull electric car to the European market, but will not sell it at the sub-$10,000 price that it commands in China.

According to BYD's Europe chief Michael Shu, the Seagull may be priced at 20,000 EUR when made in or exported to Europe, which will still make it one of the cheapest electric vehicles on the local market.

BYD actually has big production plans for Europe, and wants to become the top EV maker there by 2030, knocking its biggest competitor Tesla off its perch.

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