China Has Elon Over A Barrel

24/7 Wall St. : Watch the Video Transcript: [00:00:04] Doug McIntyre: The online newsletter, Axios did an article this morning and it said that the thing that could ruin the United States’ EV business is the tariff wars because of the rare earths right. [00:00:18] Doug McIntyre: You, you gotta have batteries if you’re […] The post China Has Elon Over A Barrel appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Apr 28, 2025 - 20:12
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China Has Elon Over A Barrel

24/7 Wall St. Key Points:

Key Points

  • Ongoing tariff tensions, especially concerning rare earth elements, pose a major threat to battery supply chains and could significantly delay returns on EV investments for Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Ford (NYSE: F), and General Motors (NYSE: GM).

  • Market skepticism over rapid charging claims and the slow development of domestic rare earth mining further complicate near-term EV growth in the U.S.

  • BYD, potentially accessible via Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B), is viewed as a relatively safer play amid global EV market uncertainties.

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Watch the Video

Transcript:

[00:00:04] Doug McIntyre: The online newsletter, Axios did an article this morning and it said that the thing that could ruin the United States’ EV business is the tariff wars because of the rare earths right.

[00:00:18] Doug McIntyre: You, you gotta have batteries if you’re gonna have EVs. If that, I mean, that could be a nail in Tesla’s coffin. And it could also take all these legacy car companies like Ford and GM who’ve invested tens of billions of dollars and take their potential payoffs and put it, push it out at least a year or two. I mean, it would be like somebody saying, well.

[00:00:43] Doug McIntyre: You’re not gonna have any gas. So

[00:00:46] Lee Jackson: Yeah. Which would kind of put a little problem in the mix.

[00:00:50] Doug McIntyre: Yeah. Yeah. I’m not gonna run out and buy a new car. So, it was like, well, range was the problem and charging time was the problem and right. To me, if you don’t have batteries, that’s a real problem.

[00:01:04] Lee Jackson: That’s a huge problem. and also a lot of the experts are starting to doubt that, the Chinese, the BYD is able to have a five minute charging. They’re kind of calling a little bull on that. So, yeah, I mean, it is a critical thing. We do export a lot of our rare earth. Materials in, although they’ve said they found big chunks of it in Arkansas and hey, it’s out there.

[00:01:29] Lee Jackson: But it’s like, well, okay, building a mine is not all that quick of a process.

[00:01:34] Doug McIntyre: Yeah. So listen, if you believe the tariffs are gonna be around for a while, I would not own Tesla, GM report. And there’s, I, wouldn’t look at a, potential bounce back in those companies. 8% of the new cars sold in the US last year, were EVs, everybody in the sector says, well, that’s gonna go up, adoption’s gonna get better.

[00:01:58] Doug McIntyre: I don’t know, people don’t wanna burn as much gas there, there lots and lots of reasons, but if you can’t get a battery supply, you might as well say for a year. The EV business is, oh, it’s history. It’s history. And listen, there’s so many used EVs on the market right now. It’s crazy.

[00:02:17] Lee Jackson: Well, needless to say, in the anti-US, faction, it’s like they’re trading end and they’re, not getting the kind of trade in value they were expecting.

[00:02:29] Doug McIntyre: No. So I don’t like the EV companies. I mean, I don’t like pure play Tesla partial play GM and Ford, I think they’ve become super dangerous stocks to own.

[00:02:42] Lee Jackson: Yeah. With the exception of maybe owning some BYD, which you can own either directly through Hong Kong or wherever it’s traded or through Berkshire Hathaway.

[00:02:52] Lee Jackson: But yeah, that’s about the only play that. The only play that looks super safe for this year and the next year.

[00:03:00] Doug McIntyre: Anyway, stay away from EV stocks, stay away from car stocks where they’re betting the entire pot on EVs.

[00:03:11] Lee Jackson: Yeah. and a lot of people, a friend of mine who I’d kind of help her look after her portfolio.

[00:03:17] Lee Jackson: She called me and of course the first question is, why is the market down? I’m like, well, there’s more sellers than buyers. But her second question was, well, my friend bought some Tesla. And I’m like, well, okay. Until this gets all sorted out, you’re probably better to just play it safe, see what happens.

[00:03:35] Lee Jackson: And if it gets super cheap, then take a look at it.

[00:03:38] Doug McIntyre: That’s a possibility.

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