California can fix Trump's EV mistake

When he signed his budget bill into law on July 4, President Trump dealt a heavy blow to America’s electric vehicle industry, ending most federal support for U.S. electric vehicle manufacturing and hobbling automakers’ $100-billion effort to catch up with China, the world’s new automotive manufacturing superpower. Now California alone has the size and market power to fill the void left by Washington’s surrender. Our leaders in Sacramento must step up.

The gutting of EV support never got the national debate it deserved. Americans, including many in Congress, fail to see the real EV issue: China. As the world moves toward a future auto market dominated by electric vehicles — a reality no global auto executive doubts — China has seized the opportunity. It’s China, not the United States, the European Union or Japan, that now rules global automotive manufacturing. For every car, SUV or pickup built in America, China builds about three, and the Chinese have the manufacturing muscle to build five.

Detroit understands this. Along with their European and Asian peers, U.S. automakers have invested tens of billions in North American factories to build the next generation of EVs and compete in global markets. This month at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley put it bluntly: “If we lose this [the race for EVs], we do not have a future Ford.”

Unfortunately, the Trump administration is forcing free-world automakers to race against China at a disadvantage. Chinese automakers, awash in government help and subsidies, now manufacture 70% of the world’s EVs. Their advanced, low-priced cars are quickly taking market share in Australia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Mexico is a sobering example. In 2017, 1% of Mexican cars came from China. Last year that number was 20%.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-07-17/california-china-ev-electric-vehicle-donald-trump