There are already cheaper, better vehicles being produced in China that American consumers cannot buy due to exhorbitant tariffs. These vehicles will only improve as battery tech continues to rapidly advance and Chinese manufacturers climb the learning curve.

Meanwhile, American manufacturers will lazily enjoy comfortable margins guaranteed by the protectionist tariffs without needing to make meaningful investments in new technology. They will fall even further behind and become even less competitive. But the American people will be told--truthfully--that if they do not continue buying overpriced, technically inferior vehicles, the entire domestic auto industry will fall, with dire consequences for thousands of American workers.

We bailed out the auto industry in 2008. The bipartisan tariffs on Chinese EVs is effectively another giant domestic auto industry bailout at great cost to American consumers, though they by and large are oblivious to this. But an argument could have been made that these tariffs were a necessary and temporary measure to give the US auto industry time and space to catch up to their foreign competition. With this change, these tariffs will need to be a permanent ball and chain on the American consumer. The US auto industry will never be able to exist without them.