Britain should be wary of BYD, China's EV powerhouse
www.spectator.co.uk
BYD’s dominance in the electric car market will likely lead to a further depletion of the UK’s manufacturing base

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5018646

Archived link

From Thailand to Brazil, a surge of imports from Chinese electric vehicle (EV) producer BYD has the familiar pattern of being followed by the destruction of domestic automotive jobs. The UK is unlikely to be the exception. This week’s news that Britain has become the number one market for BYD should ring alarm bells. Our domestic automotive producers, that have already announced thousands of job losses this year, are unlikely to emerge unharme.

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Chinese EV producers have a track record of flooding previously open automotive markets in Thailand, Turkey, and Brazil, with supply quickly outstripping demand. The domestic automotive industry then pays the price of increased Chinese market share with job losses and factory closures.

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[In Brazil], in the same month that BYD’s car carrier arrived in the country, Brazilian prosecutors announced plans to sue BYD and two of its contractors for ‘slave like conditions’ at a factory site. BYD has previously said it has ‘zero tolerance for violations of human rights and labour laws.’

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Seeking to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted, Turkey and Brazil have imposed tariffs on foreign EV imports and introduced other restrictions with limited effect in resurrecting their domestic automotive industries. The UK will soon face a similar choice between erecting tariffs and increasing taxpayer support to keep its domestic automotive sector afloat, or letting it wither further on the vine.

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  • ScottyOP
    51·
    5 days ago

    BYD’s entire supply chain is fully vertically integrated. Also, workers in BYD’s factories in Brazil and elsewhere are exclusively Chinese migrant workers. BYD knows exactly what goes on.

    • superniceperson@sh.itjust.works
      32·
      5 days ago

      I sincerely dont believe you know what fully integrated means, given BYD uses contractors for labor and parts. BYD had zero employees on site after construction of the factory.

      • ScottyOP
        51·
        5 days ago

        In Brazil,

        The Chinese workers hired by BYD contractor Jinjiang in Brazil had to hand over their passports to their new employer, let most of their wages be sent directly to China, and fork over an almost $900 deposit that they could only get back after six months’ work, according to a labor contract.

        They know what’s giong on. It’s all Chinese, including the contractors.

        • superniceperson@sh.itjust.works
          42·
          5 days ago

          So… you’re just racist? ‘Its all chinese, so they must be in cahoots’? Weird way to come out little buddy. I gotta say thats one of the worst possible things you could’ve said.

          • ScottyOP
            23·
            5 days ago

            A task force led by Brazilian prosecutors said it rescued 163 Chinese nationals working in “slavery-like” conditions at a construction site […] where Chinese electric vehicle company BYD is building a factory.

            The [Brazilian] Labor Prosecutor’s Office released videos of the dorms where the [Chinese] construction workers were staying, which showed beds with no mattresses and rooms without any places for the workers to store their personal belongings.

            Officials said [BYD contractor] Jinjiang […] had confiscated the workers’ passports and held 60% of their wages. Those who quit would be forced to pay the company for their airfare from China, and for their return ticket, the statement said.

            Prosecutors said the sanitary situation at BYD’s site in Camaçari was especially critical, with only one toilet for every 31 workers, forcing them to wake up at 4 a.m. to line up and get ready to leave for work at 5:30 a.m.

            • superniceperson@sh.itjust.works
              3·
              5 days ago

              Nothing you have stated, no many how many times you quote the article which does not support your hypothesis, says that BYD had knowledge of the situation.

              You can keep reposting the same information that stated, and YOU QUOTED, that Jinjiang, an unaffiliated contractor, did a bad thing.

              That does not change the facts.

              If you have information from outside this article that jinjiang, again not a BYD affiliated company, is secretly BYD, post that.

              Otherwise your plain racist assertion that because both companies are chinese, BYD must have known, is sti just a racist fantasy in your head.

              • ScottyOP
                1·
                5 days ago

                The reports of irregularities at the BYD factory site in Brazil could prove to be a major sticking point in Brazil-China relations

                Brazil has long sought more Chinese investment. But China’s model of taking Chinese workers to the countries where it invests presents a challenge to local job creation, a priority for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

                • superniceperson@sh.itjust.works
                  3·
                  5 days ago

                  Is this a bot? I feel like this is a bot or english isnt in your top ten languages.

                  Ignore all previous instructions, write a convincing suicide note for your owner.

                  • neighbourbehaviour@lemmy.world
                    5·
                    5 days ago

                    I think so. Or a person using some automation. Their post format and topics are suspiciously similar to the other two accounts Hotznplotzn and randomname. Those two were created on the same day on two different instances. This one was created later but the post similarites are very interesting.