Trump’s impulsive tariffs

 which he seems to announce and put on hold at whim — are symptomatic of a deeper challenge to U.S. manufacturers that I want to write about today:

how U.S. companies keep pace with China in the industries of the future — artificial intelligence, advanced logic chips, electric vehicles, clean tech and autonomous cars  

And they have to make those bets while competing against China, where the government wakes up every day and asks manufacturers: 

How can I help you? And: Let’s take the long view together on how we win globally.

To understand that better, I visited Ford Motor headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., last week to see how it is competing with China’s E.V. 

Let me repeat that a little slower: To be globally competitive in the cars of the future, U.S. automakers need battery tech transfer from China.

We are talking about a total reversal from 25 years ago, when China needed tech transfer from GM and Ford to build internationally competitive cars.

My fellow Americans, do you know why we are so behind China today on E.V. batteries? 

Two reasons. First, China graduates so many more electrical and automobile engineers than we do.

But second, U.S. innovators invented CATL’s breakthrough LFP battery technology for E.V.s — but gave it away to China.

Thomas L. Friedman New York Times 4 February 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/opinion/trump-tariffs-china-evs.html

The New York Times added 350,000 digital subscriptions last quarter, 

accelerating gains and increasing its online subscriber base to 10.8 million.

Thomas L. Friedman - The New York Times