GM announced it will develop batteries in the U.S. instead of relying on Chinese raw materials. This happened while Trump's Department of Transportation attacked Ford for having China ties. Two separate stories. One headline. The financial media combines them because apparently we need a villain and a hero in every f*cking battery article.
The implication is clear. GM chose patriotism. Ford chose communism. Except GM has been buying Chinese battery materials for years and will continue doing so until these mythical domestic supply chains actually exist. Which could be never. But retail traders don't read past the headline so they'll dump Ford and buy GM based on vibes.
Trump's DOT attacking Ford is perfect because the Department of Transportation has zero authority over trade policy or manufacturing decisions. It's like your dentist yelling at you for your cholesterol levels. Loud. Confident. Completely irrelevant to his job. But it makes headlines so Ford's stock moves and some guy in Ohio with a Robinhood account thinks he's witnessing geopolitical strategy.
GM wants domestic supply chains for EVs and energy storage. Fantastic. Everyone wants domestic supply chains. Ford wants them. Tesla wants them. Your neighbor who bought lithium stocks in 2021 wants them. Wanting something and building it are different. One requires a press release. The other requires lithium mines and processing facilities and EPA approvals and about eight years.
The real story is that battery cells need raw materials and those materials come from China whether you're GM or Ford or anyone else pretending otherwise. But we can't say that because then there's no hero. Just companies doing the same thing with different PR strategies while retail traders lose money guessing which press release sounds more American.
Photo by on Unsplash
Leave a Comment