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Americans were told that Chinese electric cars were being kept off our streets by steep tariffs and new national-security rules, but Alphabet’s robotaxi arm appears to have quietly opened the door for them anyway. Waymo’s new Ojai vans — built by China’s Zeekr and now ferrying riders in cities from Los Angeles to San Francisco — show how wealthy Silicon Valley players can bend the rules while hardworking Americans and U.S. automakers are left paying the price.
Documents tracked by import researchers show Zeekr shipments through the Port of Los Angeles numbering in the low thousands since 2024, even as tariffs on Chinese-built EVs balloon to the triple digits. Consumers face punitive levies that Forbes reports as roughly 127.5 percent when you add the various duties and extra fees, yet these vehicles are coming in by the boatload — a discrepancy that reeks of favoritism for big tech over ordinary citizens.
Waymo’s defense is predictable: the company imports stripped-down “gliders” without the Chinese-made sensors and software and installs American systems at its Arizona facility, arguing the brain of the vehicle is U.S.-made. That dodge exploits legal gray areas while creating another uncomfortable truth — policy meant to protect national security and American industry is being skirted by corporate giants with deep pockets. The Biden and Trump administrations’ connected-vehicle rules exist for a reason, and loopholes should not be the playbook for Silicon Valley.
Make no mistake: Waymo can afford to eat huge tariffs because it has billions in capital and a government-sized balance sheet of patience; ordinary Americans and American dealerships cannot. Industry analysts estimate Waymo may be importing hundreds of Zeekr vans a month to scale its fleet, a pace that would rapidly tilt the playing field in favor of a tech monopoly that does not build cars here. If we care about competition, jobs, and fair markets, that asymmetry must be confronted.
This isn’t just an economic gripe — it’s a security one. The Commerce Department’s Connected Vehicle Rule was designed to keep vehicles tied to adversary supply chains out of U.S. markets, and regulators have already used it to block sellers like Polestar from continuing sales; enforcement must be consistent and whole. If rules bar Chinese-connected cars from dealer lots, those same rules should not be hollowed out by creative corporate engineering that leaves the foreign chassis in place while swapping in American electronics.
Lawmakers and regulators should stop applauding tech fairy tales and start protecting American workers and consumers. Close the legal loopholes that let deep-pocketed companies import de facto foreign-built vehicles, audit the value declarations on those shipments, and apply tariffs and security standards evenly so no company gets a backdoor advantage. Patriots who value free enterprise and national security should demand one standard for every car on our roads — no exceptions for the elite.
