BYD Hits the Brakes: Americas Expansion Stalls Amid Trade Policy Chaos

Trade winds blow sideways for China's EV giant.

BYD—the Tesla-slayer from Shenzhen—just pumped the brakes on its Americas rollout. Why? Because nobody knows which way the tariff winds will shift post-2024 elections. Not even Wall Street's crystal ball (read: overpaid analysts) saw this regulatory traffic jam coming.

The plot twist? While legacy automakers lobby for protectionism, BYD's factories keep churning out EVs at a 30% lower cost than Detroit's. Somewhere, a hedge fund manager is shorting BYD stock while charging his Model S with coal-fired electricity.

BYD responds to labor scandal by slowing international push

BYD’s Brazil plant project stalled in December when Brazilian labor authorities accused the main contractor of keeping more than 160 workers in slave-like conditions, seizing passports and withholding pay. BYD said it moved those laborers into hotels, conducted a thorough review of living and working arrangements for subcontracted staff, and repeatedly pressed its contractor to resolve the problems.

Reflecting on the episode, Li said the company would temper its growth pace. “We should slow down, step back from the focus on speed. We need to work more with local companies,” she said. “It will take longer, but that’s OK.”

BYD is making a strong push into the European market. Stella Li, the company’s executive vice president and its main international spokesperson said last month “If you’re winning here, it means you’re super good in every angle.” She shared BYD is prepared to invest as much as $20 billion in Europe.

The company has already moved away from using outside importers, has taken charge of its own shipping operations, and has stocked its showrooms with more affordable, compact vehicles aimed at local buyers.

In China and Europe, companies like BYD, Xpeng, Xiaomi, and Nio sell more cars than Tesla by offering lower prices. BYD expects to sell over 5 million cars by 2025. In April it outsold Tesla in European EV deliveries for the first time. Those results have helped lift BYD’s share price by 38% so far in 2025, as investors reward its battery know-how, competitive pricing and global push.

EV demand in China delays Xiaomi’s global expansion

Moreover on Wednesday, Xiaomi said it will not consider exporting its electric vehicles until 2027.

CEO Lei Jun told viewers in a livestream that the company must satisfy high domestic demand for its SU7 sedan and its newly launched YU7 SUV before looking abroad. The decision to delay overseas shipments underlines Xiaomi’s need to fulfill strong domestic orders before stretching its production capacity.

The SU7 has outsold Tesla’s Model 3 each month since December, and the YU7 drew heavy orders in the first 18 hours after going on sale last Thursday. That rush pushed Xiaomi’s stock to a record high.

Lei Jun introduced the YU7 at a Beijing launch event on May 22, 2025. He later warned customers to expect waits of more than a year before taking delivery, prompting fresh complaints. When asked about plans to boost output, he replied only, “We’ll strive to ramp up capacity,” without offering further details.

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