its my understanding that the US has banned Chinese EVs based on their “ability to send telemetry back to China” (fwiw, every manufacturer is doing something similar, but that’s out of scope for this question).
Waymo has a new class of car they’re using called the Ojai (Oh, hi) that is built by Zeeker, a Chinese company, that is built in China. This seems like it would run afoul of that ban.
I thought I heard somewhere that the car is built in China, but the infotainment system and ecu are then installed here in America, which bypasses that issue. If that’s the case. Why don’t other manufacturers import Chinese EVs and drop in their own infotainment systems for much cheaper?
Edit: it’d be nice to have answers grounded with proof, not just “because bribes! and the oligarchy!”
I don’t think it’s crazy at this point to say it’s likely that corporations are paying Trump privately for exceptions to his orders. In fact, his orders might exist solely to raise funds. He’s running the US Government like the mobsters he grew up with trained him.
I can’t think of any other more plausible answer. The past 2 years have been nothing but a double standards of rules. If you’re confused and think it’s not fair, that’s the point. They just don’t care.
It’s why companies are fleeing the US. Nobody likes to operate under extortion and a spinning kaleidoscope of tarrifs.