Waymo’s Chinese-made robotaxis face new headwinds thanks to Biden’s tariffs
Image: Abigail Bassett for The Verge
Waymo’s plans to expand its robotaxi fleet are facing new roadblocks thanks to the Biden administration’s trade policies.
The Alphabet-owned company had planned to introduce a new robotaxi manufactured by Zeekr, a subsidiary of China’s Geely. The cars are being designed in Sweden (where Geely owns Swedish carmaker Volvo), adapted from Geely’s all-electric five-door Zeekr. Waymo is then outfitting the cars with the hardware and software necessary for autonomous driving. The first new vehicles began arriving in the US earlier this year.
But the vehicles could be subject to newly restrictive tariffs from the Biden administration, which aims to stymie Chinese EV imports into the US. The administration said it would roughly quadruple…