Olga Ponomareva on how the US tariffs will affect the Chinese automotive industry

Olga Ponomareva has noted that the share of car supplies between China and the United States is insignificant, but the markets are highly interdependent in terms of auto parts. Further, US tariffs are imposed not only on finished cars, but on components, as well. «Among suppliers of automotive components to the US market, China is ranked the third, with about 11% of imports volume in money terms after Mexico and Canada. In turn, Chinese companies are also deeply integrated into North American automotive production chains. For instance, the United States and Mexico account for 20% and 8% of Chinese exports, respectively. In total, it is 28%, or almost $16 bn, of the overall exports of $57 bn," Olga Ponomareva notes.

According to Olga Ponomareva, after the introduction of the first US tariffs in 2018–2023, twelve Chinese companies organized the manufacturing of auto parts in Mexico for both European BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen and American Ford, GM and Tesla plants. The US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) helped avoid paying US tariffs. However, now tariffs are designed in such a way as to exclude the possibility of using the markets of Mexico and Canada to avoid taxes, says Olga Ponomareva.

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