The Electric: How Trump Set the Stage for a Grand EV Bargain With China

Last March, President-elect Donald Trump, addressing a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, dove into a recurring theme: Chinese automakers were planning to build plants in Mexico and export their electric cars into the U.S. tariff free, exploiting a loophole in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade treaty. Trump said that if elected, he would stop them from doing so. He threatened 200% tariffs on the cars—and told the Chinese companies to instead produce in the U.S. “If they want to build a plant in Michigan, in Ohio, in South Carolina, they can, using American workers,” he said to cheers and applause.