Chinese Cars in the U.S.?
Posted by EAG100@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 58 comments
I am seeing many top American influences, such as RichRebuilds, What’s Inside, and Unboxing Therapy, promote Chinese cars, weirdly, in Alaska.
What is their strategy here, and the legality of all of this?
lisasimpsonfan@reddit
I bet they would be hard to find parts if you needed them.
RespectableBloke69@reddit
Just order on Alibaba
Lower_Neck_1432@reddit
Or Temu.
MEXICOCHIVAS14@reddit
I drove a MG in Mexico. It’s a British brand but Chinese owned. It was a fantastic car to drive
FeemBleem@reddit
Back in January, Biden finalized laws that banned virtually every single Chinese carmaker from selling their cars in the US. It’s not just about tariffs.
America will never get Chinese cars.
ShadowKat2k@reddit
I guess it depends on how you define a "Chinese car." Buick, a division of General Motors, built cars such as the Envision in China, shipped to the US as late as (I think) 2023. Anything that you can find with the VIN starting with "L" is manufactured in China.
It makes sense to some degree since Buick is seen as a premium brand in China, so they build a lot of cars there since they stay there, and ship whatever the US market needs here.
TheRealMattyPanda@reddit
Unbox Therapy is Canadian
Eric848448@reddit
Never gonna happen. Detroit remembers how badly they got fucked when Japanese and later Korean cars were allowed in. They aren’t letting that happen again.
syndicatecomplex@reddit
Letting Japanese and Korean cars on the market didn't hurt Detroit. Moving the automobile industry out of Detroit hurt it.
Rampant16@reddit
I think when they say Detroit, they mean the US automakers, rather than the city itself.
And Japanese cars definitely ended over half a century of total dominance of US automakers over the US automobile market.
Granadafan@reddit
Why target the Asian market and not European car makers? Just curious
Eric848448@reddit
European cars had been in the US for longer. And they weren’t the ones to kill American automakers; it was cheap reliable efficient Japanese (and later Korean) cars.
im-on-my-ninth-life@reddit
Because Europeans are white
molten_dragon@reddit
This is probably an even worse situation because the Chinese BEV market is heavily subsidized by the Chinese government.
Jumpin-jacks113@reddit
I think it gives a better excuse to not let them in.
us287@reddit
Chinese cars are basically banned in the US
proscriptus@reddit
Banned because they would destroy the American EV market.
The ICE cars not so much, none of them have managed to meet US collision standards
UnfairHoneydew6690@reddit
Influencers doing weird, out of the ordinary stuff is kinda how they gain attention and make money.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re getting sponsored to promote these cars.
TheBimpo@reddit
And somehow importing a single vehicle is much different than establishing a commercial enterprise to market and sell them.
DGlen@reddit
You can import any vehicle you want. You can't legally use them on public roads
o93mink@reddit
Especially if you just want to put them on your YouTube channel and aren’t word about registration or insurance. You just need to put the car in a box at that point.
techieman33@reddit
They're absolutely getting paid. It's all about increasing brand recognition. And over time they can use that to help try and work their way back into the US car market.
Blue387@reddit
They are 1000 percent getting paid to shill Chinese cars
illegalsex@reddit
They 100% are.
jessek@reddit
Basically illegal to import and register in the US.
thatsad_guy@reddit
What would be illegal?
EAG100@reddit (OP)
Bringing Chinese cars to American soil? I don’t think they meet safety nor environmental standards.
thatsad_guy@reddit
Im pretty sure they have to meet those standards to be road legal
delebojr@reddit
Not necessarily with a Manufacturer plate
FindingMememo@reddit
Even if they did, why would the US support a communist owned foreign over a domestic option? It’s bad enough we have allowed them to warp consumer expectations and completely gut our other industries with cheap mass produced slave labor crap.
lurkermurphy@reddit
haha you guys chinese cars are already as good as american and they're mostly electric, chinese cars are 20% of the market in mexico already. it's all tariffs because they're also less than half the price of our cars. it was a 100% tariff before trump purely to protect american industry
thatsad_guy@reddit
im not sure what any of that has to do with what I said
lurkermurphy@reddit
joe biden introduced 100% tarriffs on chinese EVs. why would he need to do that if they're not "road legal"?
Fappy_as_a_Clam@reddit
Google says they are not sold herel because they don't meet American safety standards.
"They would need significant modifications to meet US safety standards, which are more stringent than those on China."
Biden probably did it pre-emptively.
lurkermurphy@reddit
The EU has a 38% tariff on Chinese cars and they dominate that market already. It's protectionism.
Fappy_as_a_Clam@reddit
yea he passed the tariff so if/when they are made to US safety specs, they are still too expensive.
I don't really see anything wrong with that.
lurkermurphy@reddit
yeah it's the 100% tariff to erase the cost advantage which is the only reason you buy one. canada still has 100% tariffs too. if they're so mad at the us tariffs, everyone in canada should be buying chinese cars RN
orneryasshole@reddit
Not meeting those standards would be why they couldn't have them here. I don't know about Chinese cars just speaking in general but there are a lot of cars in other countries that cant be registered in the US because they don't meet our safety standards.
Kevin7650@reddit
They’re not banned, just heavily tariffed. Lots don’t, but some do.
bryku@reddit
Even before the tariffs, Chinese cars were almost always banned due failing regulations. I bought a bike and literally the next year that model was banned.
SumFagola@reddit
They have BYD test drives on college campuses.
Mr_Sarcasum@reddit
The political commentators I was watching were saying that Chinese cars are basically banned in the US.
By their account, it's done because many of them are really good. Especially the electric car they have which are incredibly cheap compared to American cars. They are banned to protect the car market in the US
Spud8000@reddit
you will not like them. there will be a 100% tariff
WarrenMulaney@reddit
"I am seeing many top American influences"
lol who?
blipsman@reddit
There are currently tariffs so high as to prevent them from being sold in the U.S.
Meilingcrusader@reddit
BYD would totally dominate the market if allowed in, so they aren't allowed in.
MyUsername2459@reddit
The strategy is to promote their brands, by paying online pseudo-celebrity "influencers" to promote them, because it's cheaper to pay some YouTube wannabe celebrity to advertise your product than to run normal advertisements like legitimate companies.
As a general rule, if it's being promoted on YouTube, it's a scam somehow. Honey, BetterHelp, Established Titles, various scummy freemium mobile games etc.
Fappy_as_a_Clam@reddit
Some of those BYD cars look really nice..good for China!
Not saying i'd own one, but they look fantastic.
notthegoatseguy@reddit
Are you talking about those small vehicles? They're basically ATVs and I think they only use them on their private property like if they're on a farm or homesteading or whatever. You can order them on Ali Express, and they aren't generally road legal.
China's domestic auto market is almost entirely domestic and focused on the domestic market.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
Yes they are just tuk tuks with body panels.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
I think they probably can't meet all of the safety and emissions requirements. Vietnamese car maker Vinfast has tried to enter the US market but their cars the the worst reviewed cars ever and I can imagine Chinese junk is even worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF7kaLTsNHQ
Swampy1741@reddit
Chinese cars are getting way better but only those influencers really care. Tariffs on chinese cars have made them more expensive than competitors and only enthusiasts look into them while regular consumers aren't willing to pay more for a product they trust less.
hatred-shapped@reddit
Depending on the state you can put a license plate on a lawn tractor and drive it to work. So some places (Alaska, Florida, etc) with lax emissions and inspection laws will let you import a car from almost anywhere and drive it legally on the street.
It may be titled as a golf cart or something, but you can drive it. But you might not be able to drive it on the street in your neighboring state. South Carolina and North Carolina and UTVs a good example.
As far as Chinese cars ever coming to the US, I doubt it. They are either just garbage that struggle to get a one star rating in crash tests. Or are so filled with copyright violations that they would almost double the price to pay for the usage of other manufacturers designs that they stole.
If it were just a tariff thing they would slap together a manufacturing plant in the US and start cracking out vehicles.
They have a few cool little 4x4s I would love for them to import. But I doubt they will.
Arleare13@reddit
I've never heard of a single one of those "top American influencers," so I guess they can't be that influential.
huhwhat90@reddit
Car companies ship cars to other countries all the time for "research". Remember the story about the Ford CEO who was driving around in a Chinese EV?
I think it's all a play to influence public opinion and make it easier to potentially sell their cars here. "Look, here's an EV with xxx miles of range! Look how well built and CHEAP it is! Why can't we have that here?!".
It'll never happen. At least not under this administration, but they're planting that idea in people's heads.
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terryaugiesaws@reddit
they probably paid the hefty import fees. i don't think byd is illegal here. it's just that we do not live in a free market and we have protectionist measures with our own auto industry.
WashuOtaku@reddit
There are actually several Chinese car companies in the United States testing their vehicles on U.S. roads. This is legal. And yes, the irony is that are not sold in the United States because of trade restrictions.
As for influencers, its about doing something most people cannot do basically. I mean shows like Top Gear showcase concept cars that are just prototypes and not actually built, nobody will ever drive those cars.