The Victors

First off, I and I think all of the US industry leaders would concede that China makes good cars. I would dispute that the US has not or does not want to innovate. Maybe the rate of innovation has been a little slower because there is not an existential crisis (yet), but there have been lots of innovative products and ideas delivered to the market. The problem is, the market has responded and it's not ready to shift to EVs yet, at least not at a cost that makes them competitive without government incentives.

It's not just tariffs on Chinese cars that are part of this equation. Tariffs on parts from other countries (some of which are very much necessary because of the one-sided relationship they have with the US to protect their own manufacturing) drives up the cost of parts. But the biggest factor is that labor in the US/Canada, both at the OEM level and for suppliers, is non-competitive with Chinese costs. Then throw in that the Chinese government will subsidize their companies to keep producing volume even if they are selling at a loss. So, the Chinese companies are getting cheaper parts, cheaper labor, and a government subsidy to keep production high.

If we were to allow that into our market, it could literally wipe out millions of jobs in our auto/manufacturing sector. Not only would that be crushing in terms of the economy, and roll down well past the auto sector to affect most other industries, it would hamper our manufacturing base in the country, which could have strategic impacts down the road. I think you're looking at a major recession or depression due to reduction of jobs and/or wages.

I'm not sure what the solution is in this area yet. But it's not "open the gates".