--- title: The U.S. Still Doesn't Have an Answer to China's EV Dominance description: President Trump's visit to China highlights a key tension for American decision makers: how to manage China’s growing prowess in sectors like the auto industry. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/us-china-evs-trump/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-05-15T20:18:11.614Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-30T08:39:51.353Z article:section: Climate og:title: The U.S. Still Doesn't Have an Answer to China's EV Dominance og:description: President Trump's visit to China highlights a key tension for American decision makers: how to manage China’s growing prowess in sectors like the auto industry. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/us-china-evs-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08a7e4e5e6ca1a34/6a076c15e25032f0313e509b/trump_xi_china_EVs.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump xi china EVs.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The U.S. Still Doesn't Have an Answer to China's EV Dominance twitter:description: President Trump's visit to China highlights a key tension for American decision makers: how to manage China’s growing prowess in sectors like the auto industry. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08a7e4e5e6ca1a34/6a076c15e25032f0313e509b/trump_xi_china_EVs.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The U.S. Still Doesn't Have an Answer to China's EV Dominance > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=e52410a6-f32f-402e-ab9e-c05d8b664909&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Friday (1x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Justin Worland, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Senior leaders shaping the climate transition. An engaged audience of executives and decision-makers spanning operating companies, finance, policy, consulting, communications and media. ### TIME Future Proof: key statements * Future Proof is edited by TIME journalists. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 15, 2026 8:18 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcome ceremony with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14. U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcome ceremony with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14. Brendan Smialowski / AFP—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 15, 2026 8:18 PM UTC President Donald Trump returns from [China](https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/trump-xi-us-china-summit-analysis/) today alongside a who’s who in his cabinet and some of the most recognizable faces in American business like Elon Musk and Jensen Huang. While details were thin on any actual dealmaking to emerge from the two-day trip, Trump left with an air of positivity and hinted at more to come. The visit raised a central tension for American businesses, investors, and policymakers that isn’t going away anytime soon: how to manage China’s growing prowess and relevance in sectors like the [auto industry](https://time.com/7373140/china-world-leader-climate-energy-technology/). Thanks to government investment, China’s auto industry [produces](https://www.bts.gov/content/world-motor-vehicle-production-selected-countries) more cars than any other country. And, increasingly, those cars are higher value [electric vehicles](https://time.com/7328258/american-chinese-electric-vehicles-cost/) that have uptake across the rest of the world. Leaders across government and the private sector know this is a problem, but they have yet to grapple fully with the potential collision course ahead as [Chinese EVs](https://time.com/7288660/shift-east-china-electric-vehicles-economy-technology-trump-tariffs-ai/)—and indeed cleantech more broadly—increasingly put pressure on American companies. As Trump floated the idea of China ramping up investment in the U.S. ahead of the summit, industry executives balked, including and especially executives from the auto sector, alongside legislators and other influential officials. On April 29, a bipartisan group of members of congress, for example, pushed a measure to codify restrictions on imports of internet-connected [vehicles from countries](https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2024/6980422/byd-2/) that pose a national security risk, targeting China. Opponents of Chinese cars have also suggested that the administration could extend and raise the existing 100% tariffs on Chinese cars or introduce a full ban. Even if Chinese investment could be a boon for the U.S. economy, China trade hawks argue, the companies that would set up shop and the technologies they would bring would likely harm American incumbents and undercut labor standards. Furthermore, they say with good evidence, all of that state support represents an unfair practice that runs afoul of international trade rules and would distort the American market. [**Read more:** _The World Needs China's Climate Technology. That's the Dilemma_](https://time.com/7373140/china-world-leader-climate-energy-technology/) There is truth to these claims. But what is the long-term solution? When products are cheaper or better, trade barriers have historically become increasingly costly and difficult to sustain. Consumers complain. Entrepreneurs look for workarounds. Politicians flirt with buckling. Indeed, in January, Trump, who often follows political winds, suggested that he might be ok with Chinese car companies entering the U.S. market if they build local manufacturing. Powerful well-organized coalitions are one way to hold back foreign competition. And, to that end, policymakers, executives, and think tank experts speak from a shared script today, citing the aforementioned concerns. So far they’ve been successful with China as one rare area of bipartisan agreement. But there’s a deep disconnect between that elite consensus view on EVs and the concerns of the broader American public. [Polling](https://epic.uchicago.edu/insights/2025-poll-americans-views-on-electric-vehicles/) from the University of Chicago last year showed that Americans would prefer to buy an electric vehicle made in the U.S. But, the bigger the price difference, the more their patriotism erodes. At a $5,000 difference, more respondents say they would prefer a Chinese EV over a more expensive American car. The persistent inflation likely to result from the [fallout of the Iran war](https://time.com/article/2026/04/03/iran-war-energy-crisis-clean-tech-investment/), including from high fuel prices, is likely to exacerbate this challenge. And then there’s the rest of the world’s increasing willingness to import EVs. Chinese EVs are now a common sight in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In January, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney traveled to China and cut tariffs on EV imports. And Chinese automaker BYD, the world’s largest EV producer, has seen overseas [sales surge](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-01/byd-exports-jump-as-soaring-fuel-prices-spur-global-ev-demand) more than 70% in the wake of the war in Iran. Alarm bells should be going off in corporate America and in Washington. A solution that relies on consistent political alignment overcoming a confluence of citizen and market power is a faulty one. In the long term, something has to give. _To get this story in your inbox, sign up to TIME's Future Proof newsletter_ [_here_](https://timefutureproof.beehiiv.com/subscribe). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/us-china-evs-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/us-china-evs-trump/"},"headline":"The U.S. Still Doesn't Have an Answer to China's EV Dominance","datePublished":"2026-05-15T20:18:11.614Z","dateModified":"2026-07-30T08:39:51.353Z","description":"President Trump's visit to China highlights a key tension for American decision makers.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/us-china-evs-trump/","keywords":["Leadership Report"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08a7e4e5e6ca1a34/6a076c15e25032f0313e509b/trump_xi_china_EVs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08a7e4e5e6ca1a34/6a076c15e25032f0313e509b/trump_xi_china_EVs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump xi china EVs.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski / AFP—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/co2-leadership-report/","name":"Leadership Report"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/us-china-evs-trump/","name":"The U.S. Still Doesn't Have an Answer to China's EV Dominance"}}]}] ```