Chinese media outlet Guancha.cn published an article on the 17th titled, "Even 127.5% (some say 102.5%) tariffs could not stop U.S. giant from purchasing 3,200 Chinese cars."

The article pointed out that "although the U.S. built a wall of high tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), it could not prevent a U.S. autonomous driving major from procuring Chinese cars," and then, based on reports from a U.S. economic information site, it reported that Waymo, an autonomous driving company under Google's parent company Alphabet, has been importing approximately 3,200 Chinese-made EVs since 2024, with 2,600 units arriving this year alone.

It also introduced that the imported vehicles are produced by ZEEKR (Jikrypton), a luxury EV brand under Geely Automobile, and are called "CM1e" in China, but Waymo has named them "Ojai." It reported that in May this year, Waymo began operating autonomous driving taxis using this model in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities, and plans to have several thousand units running by the end of the year.

The article stated, "Despite these vehicles being subject to a maximum of 127.5% tariffs upon import into the U.S., Waymo still judges it to be profitable," and pointed out that the reason for this is "because even with high tariffs, Chinese-made products still maintain a cost advantage."

According to the article, U.S. import declaration data shows the import valuation per Ojai unit to be approximately $38,000 (approximately 6.05 million yen). Adding 127.5% tariffs to this, the cost rises to approximately $86,500 (approximately 13.8 million yen). After the vehicles arrive in the U.S., Waymo needs to additionally install the hardware and software required for autonomous driving, a cost that U.S. magazine Forbes estimates to be approximately $25,000 (approximately 4 million yen) per unit.

Even so, the total cost per Ojai unit remains at just over $110,000 (approximately 17.5 million yen), which is still significantly lower than the (maximum) $200,000 (approximately 31.8 million yen) for the Jaguar I-PACE that Waymo previously used.

The article commented, "Ironically, while high tariffs make it nearly impossible for ordinary U.S. consumers to purchase Chinese-made EVs, for Waymo, which is rapidly expanding its autonomous driving taxis, Chinese-made vehicles are still cheaper, even if the burden from import tariffs doubles." It then argued, "The Chinese side has repeatedly emphasized that the U.S. side's tariff increases are wrong actions. Such measures significantly push up the cost of imported goods and ultimately only impose a greater burden on U.S. consumers." (Translation and Editing/Kitada)