Yesterday the Detroit News caught the GM CEO admitting that Government Motors Chevy Volt could be built in China within a few years. But wait, just two weeks ago when Senator Stabenow voiced concerns about the Chinese gaining access to the Government Motors-developed green motor technology, GM said oh, don't be concerned, GM has no plans to build the Volt in China. So which of the CEO's statements are true? Good question.
But here's the real reason GM wants to build the Volt in China. China has a $19,000 per car subsidy for the buyer of electric vehicles, but China is refusing to apply the subsidy to electric car sales when the car is not made in China. In short, GM's imported Volt will cost $19,000 more than if it were built in China. But this is a flagrant World Trade Organization violation and is against China's own rules. Oh, those Chinese, they are just so clever, thumbing their noses at the WTO and at GM.
What else does China get from the "deal?" They get GM's Volt technology and trade secrets. The Chinese have a law that demands the transfer of "intellectual property," meaning "technology," to China in return for the use of Chinese labor to manufacture a product. This Chinese law does not apply to cars imported from the U.S that are not made in China, but China is ignoring their own rules and is treating the imported Volt the same as a made-in-China Volt. For GM to be allowed to build a China Volt factory GM must turn over to China electric vehicle technology that the U.S. developed and the tax payer paid for. This is also a WTO violation. China is licking their chops over this little tidbit because China's green vehicle technology is lagging far behind ours.
What has the "jobs" President done about this? Nothing. He is afraid of going to the WTO with a complaint against China on these two issues, though that's exactly the type of issue the WTO should address. Instead, he has agreed to let GM move electric car development to China. Oh, yes, he really cares about creating and keeping jobs in the U.S.
Where is the UAW on this? Who knows. They own a large part of GM. You'd expect the UAW members to be throwing a tantrum. Many of them will most likely lose their jobs when the Volt is only built in China within the next few years. But union management appears to be mum on the subject. They must not care when the Volt Made In America label becomes the Volt Made In China label. Union members, you've been had. You think the unemployment rate in the auto industry is high now? Just wait a couple of years. Better start training now for a different job because yours will be gone.
This is a great example of the lack of leadership in the Obama administration, the "pass-this-bill-now" jobs guy.
One other morsel of information I discovered while researching this subject. Shanghai is the site of GM's international headquarters. I understand that GM is a huge international company. But when Obama bailed them out and then put them into bankruptcy, did anyone see any bail-out save-the-company funds coming from China? What exactly did the U.S. taxpayer "save?" A huge international company with headquarters in Shanghai.
Welcome to the world of government stupidity.
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