California dreamin’: how BYD’s US electric bus expansion smooths the road for Xi and Trump
Opening of new facility by Chinese carmaker whose name stands for Build Your Dreams helps both leaders’ causes heading into a challenging summit
China’s BYD managed to unite America’s left and right, at least momentarily, in California.
The company, which is 8 per cent owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, officially opened a new manufacturing facility in southern California that has tripled its production of zero-emission, electric-powered buses to 1,500 a year and added hundreds of full-time, unionised workers.
An event this week celebrating the expansion drew nearly a dozen elected officials and government representatives, including US House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and political rivals, all extolling the significance of a Chinese investment that creates hundreds of jobs.
“We know at times politics will divide us, but it’s only a division of ideas. BYD is able to bring us together,” McCarthy said, echoing sentiments voiced by the other political leaders from federal, state and local offices, and representing Republicans and Democrats. “The only problem I think we’re going to have is that I don’t know if we have enough people for all the jobs that are being created.”
BYD’s expansion of its facility in Lancaster, California – about 50 kilometres northeast of Los Angeles – is the US unit’s third phase.
Investments like BYD’s are crucial for US President Donald Trump, who pledged to take a tougher stance against Beijing in terms of bilateral trade and investment. With a trade imbalance that has not improved since he took office, Trump is under more pressure than ever to show he has made progress somewhere.