Chinese automakers are expanding their electric-vehicle sales across North America, and the shift is taking on new momentum after Canada agreed to cut tariffs on Chinese EVs this week in exchange for concessions on Canadian farm products.
The prospect of an easier route into Canada is raising concerns for other auto manufacturers, particularly American companies, as China’s domestic EV market weakens and global buyers increasingly turn to Chinese brands, according to industry experts cited by the Associated Press.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy raised the alarm during remarks at a Jeep-maker Stellantis assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio. Duffy said the Chinese Communist Party invests in the auto industry to “control this industry,” adding, “They want to take over the auto industry. They want to take away these jobs,” and telling Canada, “They will live to regret the day they partner with China and bring in their vehicles.”
Other experts framed the change as less avoidable. Ilaria Mazzocco, deputy director and senior fellow with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Chinese automakers “continue to be really popular, and are doing better and better,” and that the vehicles are not limited to “global markets that are more marginal or less important to U.S. automakers.”
Mazzocco said Chinese brands compete on both cost and technology. She said the vehicles are offered at a “very competitive cost,” while also being “technologically quite desirable,” and that they “tend to be connected vehicles,” with software capabilities that consumers appear to like. She added that “the price point and the competitiveness are really big selling points.”
She and other experts described how the pricing gap drives consumer interest. Chinese vehicles can cost as little as $10,000 to $20,000, the article said, while new vehicles in the United States run close to $50,000 on average and EVs generally cost more. Mazzocco and others also pointed to production advantages, including manufacturing and efficiency improvements and designs intended to keep vehicles lighter to help extend driving range.
Sam Fiorani, vice president at AutoForecast Solutions, said Chinese makers have succeeded by focusing on the kinds of cars buyers want at a price that matters. “It’s clear that the vehicles made by Chinese brands come at a very competitive cost,” Mazzocco said, while Fiorani said Chinese companies have “found a way to make small and mid-sized cars — cars that people want — at a reasonable price.” Fiorani said these are “the segments where GM and Ford and almost everybody else have abandoned,” describing a broader industry move away from smaller models toward higher-margin large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks.
Analysts said the competitive threat extends beyond pricing, because electrification is accelerating elsewhere. The article said China saw 17% growth in plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles in 2025, while Europe saw a 33% increase, based on data released by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. By comparison, it said U.S. sales of electrified cars grew 1% last year, and it described a shift in the United States toward hybrid electric and gasoline vehicles amid a policy turn away from EV-friendly support.
The AP report also cited a change in leadership in global EV sales. It said Tesla delivered 1.64 million electric vehicles in 2025, down from its prior position, while BYD delivered 2.26 million. It linked those developments to concerns that U.S. automakers may face weaker competitive footing as emissions policy changes coincide with faster Chinese progress.
Mark Wakefield, global automotive market lead at AlixPartners, said the Canada tariff shift underscores what competitors need to do to compete globally. He predicted Chinese brands will account for 30% of the global market by 2030, and said, “They’ve already started in Europe. They started in South America. Now Mexico and Canada.” Wakefield added that American carmakers “don’t want to end up as a Brazil with your ethanol-based cars” and referenced countries that once mattered more in autos, saying, “and no longer really matter.”
Countries have sought to regulate Chinese EV expansion for multiple reasons, Fiorani said. He described China’s scale as an “overwhelming machine making inexpensive vehicles” and said the fear is that “if you give them an inch, they’re going to take a mile.” Fiorani also argued that the technology itself raises security questions, saying the vehicles are “data centers” and that “the idea that a state-owned company in China could have access to where a high portion of drivers are going gives them leverage for all kinds of outlets.”
The article said tariff moves reflect that concern across regions. It noted that the European Union raised tariffs on Chinese EVs last year and that the two sides were resolving the dispute at the start of this year. In 2024, former President Joe Biden set a 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars, Canada matched that import tax until this week, and the report said the Canadian cut places the Chinese companies another step closer to U.S. soil.
It said Mexico’s auto market has also welcomed Chinese EVs, with massive growth last year. Fiorani said, “The advance of Chinese manufacturers is inevitable,” and described ongoing negotiations over roadblocks, including “What data is being processed” and “how much market share you’re going to allow Chinese manufacturers to have.” He added that “There are a lot of guardrails that have to be put up, but eventually they’re going to make their way into all Western markets.”