How to Give American Car Buyers, Environmentalists, Free Traders, and American Auto Workers Much of What They Want

One of the first things you learn in an economics class is the concept of compromise: you can’t have everything you want. This is relevant in the electric vehicle debate. American auto workers want to keep their jobs. Most American drivers still prefer cars with an internal combustion engine. Environmentalists want Americans to buy electric vehicles. And free traders want, well, free trade. Something has to give.

Or is it? There is a path that would allow each party to achieve many of its goals. First, end mandates and subsidies for electric vehicles. Second, eliminate President Biden’s 100% tariffs on electric vehicles from China and allow duty-free imports. Free trade would give low- and middle-income Americans the ability to buy imported electric vehicles relatively cheaply. More people driving electric vehicles would make environmentalists happy. And ending the mandates and subsidies would allow American automakers to do what they do best: make cars with internal combustion engines. This would allow American auto workers to maintain employment and continue to use their specific skills.