cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5018646
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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can’t compete, ha?
[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.
Addition:
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.
Yeah and also cheap cars for consumers…
For a short few years until Chinese cars are the only ones available.
Read my comments in this thread to get an idea why Chinese EVs are so cheap.
The Spectator is a terrible news source, and this article is a good example of why. What domestic car industry do they think we have in the UK that is threatened by Byd selling EVs here? Indian-owned Land Rover (who don’t make EVs anyway)? German-owned Mini?
This is not all about the car brands but primarily local suppliers. These local companies will have to shut down as Chinese companies rely on vertically integrated supply chains.
Addition:
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) says:
With more than 183,000 people employed in manufacturing and some 796,000 in total across the wider automotive industry, we account for 13.4% of total UK export goods generating £108 billion of trade.
I am old enough to remember the WTO being rammed down the throats of the global south with chants of “competitive advantage” by the neoliberal clergy.
