GM CEO Mary Barra on electric vehicles, tariffs and competing with China
Strategic competition with Beijing demands clarity on American commitments and economic leverage.
The mainstream framing treats tariffs as a regrettable cost of doing business, with a quick nod to “leveling the playing field” as if it were a talking point. But Mary Barra is pointing to a basic reality: the price tag of tariffs is visible, while the price of surrendering our industrial base is usually hidden until it is too late. If China can flood the market with subsidized vehicles and battery supply chains, then “free trade” becomes a euphemism for **managed trade by Beijing**.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the Trump administration's tariffs caused a "few billion-dollar impact," but also praised them for "leveling the playing field."
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
The mainstream framing treats tariffs as a regrettable cost of doing business, with a quick nod to “leveling the playing field” as if it were a talking point. But Mary Barra is pointing to a basic reality: the price tag of tariffs is visible, while the price of surrendering our industrial base is usually hidden until it is too late.
If China can flood the market with subsidized vehicles and battery supply chains, then “free trade” becomes a euphemism for managed trade by Beijing. A few billion in disruption is not nothing, but neither is letting strategic industries migrate offshore in the name of cheaper sticker prices.
The real question is whether we want an EV future built on national security and supply chain resilience, or one dependent on a rival that uses coercion as policy. The principle is straightforward: fairness in trade matters because public trust depends on an economy that can stand on its own.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.