Ford CEO warns US cannot permanently block Chinese car imports

United States of America (ANTARA) - Ford Motor Company’s Executive Chairman Bill Ford has warned that the US automotive industry cannot continue to depend on tariff policies and regulations designed to keep Chinese-made cars out of the US domestic market.

According to a Carscoops report on Wednesday (15 July), speaking at an Axios event in Washington, D.C., Ford said such protections may not last forever, so industry players must prepare to face competition with Chinese manufacturers.

Rather than assuming that Chinese vehicle makers’ access to the US market will remain blocked, he said American carmakers need to develop products that can compete head-to-head with vehicles built by Chinese producers.

“We have to face China directly,” Ford was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal.

“We can’t hope to keep holding them back forever, and we have to be able to beat them at their own game,” he said.

He also raised the need for a more consistent long-term industrial strategy in the US.

According to him, investment in the automotive sector takes years to plan and realise, and is therefore often out of step with shorter political cycles.

“Our planning horizon is longer than the political horizon,” he said.

This step is considered important to protect the US domestic manufacturing industry from Chinese automotive producers, which are growing very rapidly and have begun to attract Ford’s customers in overseas markets with increasingly sophisticated technology and competitive prices.

Although their presence in the US market remains limited, Chinese vehicle makers have already influenced the company’s strategy.

Ford is preparing to launch an affordable electric pick-up truck that will sell for around US$30,000 (approximately Rp539.2 million) when it goes on sale in 2027.

The vehicle will use new manufacturing techniques such as gigacasting and a simpler wiring system to reduce production costs whilst improving efficiency.