Shanghai-headquartered Chinese EV manufacturer Nio Incorporated has accused the US government of not offering Chinese EVs equal access to the American market. William Li, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nio, said the US government is not offering Chinese EVs equal access to the American market by unduly following the policy of protectionism. Calling for the same access to the American market that Tesla Motors has in the Chinese market, Li stressed that the world should be more open and politicizing of businesses should be stopped.

The top executive’s criticism of U.S. government’s alleged protectionism comes as Chinese electric car manufacturers are trying to expand overseas. Unlike a few years back, Chinese automakers like Nio and BYD are now increasingly relying on exports. The uncertainty over access to promising American market for Chinese manufacturers is obviously a big hurdle on their way to grow internationally.

Access to the U.S. automobile market has been made tougher by high tariffs on imported Chinese vehicles. Actually, the Biden administration has designed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to boost domestic manufacturing and trim down the country’s dependence on Chinese products.

Consequently, there is high uncertainty over access to U.S. automobile subsidies. Under the IRA, the fate of Chinese-branded vehicles as well as China-made EV components in the American market remains uncertain, which is forcing Chinese entrepreneurs like Li to criticize the Biden administration’s so-called policy of protectionism.

Speaking on the topic, Li said, “The world should be more open and stop politicizing business. Chinese consumers have a wide range of [new energy vehicles] to choose from. Why can't these products be enjoyed by US consumers as well?”

Nio claims to be an international company. Li noted that besides being listed in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nio has more than three-quarters of its investors are from countries other than China.

Video Review of NIO ES8 by Fifth Gear

Given the ongoing hurdles created by the IRA in the U.S. market, Chinese manufacturers like Nio are currently focusing their exports on Europe, where consumers are making an unprecedentedly swift switch from internal combustion engines (ICEs) to EVs. To assist its EV sales, Nio last year started installing battery swap stations in various countries of Europe

Meanwhile, some experts have predicted that China could overtake Japan as the world’s No. 1 car exporter by the end of this year. Last year, the Red Dragon overtook Germany to grab the second spot.