Opposite to President Joe Biden’s efforts, former President Donald Trump says, if elected, he would invite China to manufacture vehicles in the U.S.

According to multiple media outlets, Trump spoke on the subject at last week’s Republican National Convention. He noted that large factories are being built in Mexico by China to make cars that will be sold in the U.S., according to Bloomberg.

“Those plants are going to be built in the United States and our people are going to man those plants,” he said at the RNC, according to Bloomberg.

He added he would otherwise place tariffs as high as 200% on each car to prevent them from entering the country.

In May, Biden announced 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), 25% on steel and aluminum, 50% on semiconductors, and 50% on solar panels via an X post. The tariffs were reportedly set to curb fears that China’s low-cost vehicles pose a threat to U.S. jobs and security.

“China is determined to dominate these industries,” Biden said in the post. “I’m determined to ensure America leads the world in them.”

The Alliance for American Manufacturing released a paper in February, titled “On a Collision Course,” which focused on the threat of the Chinese EV market to the U.S. auto industry.

“The introduction of cheap Chinese autos, which are so inexpensive because they are backed with the power and funding of the Chinese government, to the American market could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector, whose centrality of the national economy is unimpeachable,” the paper says.

The paper says tariffs keep Chinese automakers out of the U.S. and European Union but the companies are searching for solutions.

“BYD, which became the world’s largest EV manufacturer in 2023, is building a factory in the heart of the European Union and is among half a dozen Chinese companies preparing to manufacture in Thailand, thereby gaining access to nearby markets through regional trade pacts,” the paper says.

Chinese companies are also spending on plants in Mexico, through which they could access the U.S., the paper states.

The paper urges federal policy and financial support of the U.S. auto market as a necessity to compete with China.

Trump said last week he would end Biden’s 2032 EV mandate on day one in office “thereby saving the auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now, and saving U.S. customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car.”

The Associated Press reported Sunday that Biden had dropped out of this year’s presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

“A party’s presumptive presidential nominee has never stepped out of the race so close to the election,” the AP stated. “President Lyndon Johnson, besieged by the Vietnam War, announced in March 1968 that he would not seek another term after just a single state’s primary. Biden’s July decision comes after more than 14 million Democrats cast votes supporting him through the primary process.”

Harris, in a statement, praised Biden’s “selfless and patriotic act” and said she intends to “earn and win” her party’s nomination, according to the article.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter posted Sunday to his X account.

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