Who says imports aren't allowed?
To quote from a link someone else posted:
> Most Chinese cars haven’t been engineered with US safety regulations in mind; just going through those protocols is an expensive and elaborate process.
> Here, the bilateral agreement noted the expectation that by 2006 China’s import tariff on assembled cars was to be reduced from its pre WTO level of 80% or 100% to 25%, while the diverse rates of tariff on auto parts were to be reduced such that the average tariff on auto parts declined to 10%.
That was a reduction from the 80-100% it was previously, so 25% was a huge win back then, but it was (and is) still a mostly protected car market.
Almost all tariffs are reciprocated, that's just how this game works. It is only an accident in history that these tariffs now protect the USA rather than China.
As the article quotes Elon Musk in his capacity as Tesla guy:
> “The Chinese car companies are the most competitive car companies in the world,” Musk said during the call. “So, I think they will have significant success outside of China depending on what kind of tariffs or trade barriers are established.”
> “Frankly, I think, if there are not trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other companies in the world.”