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Ford’s CEO said Chinese carmakers entering the US would be ‘devastating’

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Ford CEO Jim Farley raised an alarm about Chinese automakers entering the US.

In an interview with “Fox & Friends” released on Monday, Farley said that the Chinese automobile sector was powerful, with “enough capacity in China to cover all the manufacturing, all the vehicle sales in the United States.”

“We should not let them into our country because of the economic impact,” he added. “Manufacturing’s the heart and soul of our country, and for us to lose that to those exports would be devastating for our country.”

Farley also talked about the cybersecurity and privacy risks posed by Chinese vehicles.

“All the vehicles have 10 cameras, you know, they can collect a lot of data,” he added. “And there’s no way this is a fair fight.”

Farley has talked about Chinese competitors several times in recent years, emphasizing the robustness of their offerings. Chinese carmakers like BYD, Geely, and Nio are making inroads into foreign markets like Europe, South America, and Canada.

In 2024, Farley said in a podcast interview that he had been driving a Xiaomi SU7 EV for the past six months and did not want to give it up.

In June, he said that watching the ascent of the Chinese EV industry was “the most humbling thing” he had ever seen. He said they were “far superior” to EVs in the West.

He reiterated that point in September as well, saying that Chinese players face “no real competition from Tesla, GM, or Ford” because of the strength of their products.

And in January, Ford unveiled the car engine it supplied to Red Bull’s F1 team. After the launch, Farley said to Bloomberg that designing the F1 engine taught him a lot about how to improve the software in his cars — a must for beating Chinese carmakers.

Chinese EVs are not allowed into the US, primarily due to the Biden-era 100% tariffs imposed on them. During the US-China trade war last year, the figure rose to almost 250%.




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I didn’t learn ‘Chinamaxxing’ on TikTok — my Chinese mom taught me. Here are 4 habits I still swear by.

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  • Faye Bradley was born and raised in Hong Kong with a Chinese mom.
  • When she first started seeing “Chinamaxxing” on social media, she felt a surprising sense of pride.
  • Even though these habits are trending now, they’ve been part of her life for years.

When I first saw “Chinamaxxing” on my feed, I was surprised by how happy it made me.

The viral trend — where people share Chinese lifestyle hacks, from wearing red for luck during Lunar New Year to banning outdoor shoes indoors — felt like watching the world embrace the culture I grew up with.

Around the same time, another phrase was everywhere: “You met me at a very Chinese time in my life.” The line went viral after Hong Kong-born stand-up comedian Jimmy O Yang posted a video of himself singing the well-known Chinese song “Yi Jian Mei” on Instagram in November, with those words splashed across the screen. The clip has since drawn more than 6.5 million views.

It was around the same time that New Jersey TikTok creator Sherry Zhu started sharing wellness tips with her “Chinese baddies.”

Summers in Hong Kong get hot, but Bradley’s mom always discouraged cold water.

Proivded by Faye Bradley

Growing up in Hong Kong, I followed these habits long before they had a name. My mom talked constantly about balance: hot versus cold foods, drying your hair before bed, and the little miracles of White Flower Oil.

Watching the internet embrace these traditions made me reflect. Some explanations oversimplify centuries-old practices — feng shui isn’t just moving your desk, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) isn’t just a trendy tea. But the curiosity feels genuine.

Here are four simple things my mom taught me years ago that I still swear by.

1. The herbal ointment is a cure-all


A bottle of White Flower Oil.

Bradley’s mom would use White Flower Oil for aches, pains, and motion sickness; she now does the same.

Provided by Faye Bradley

Growing up, my mom would reach for a tiny bottle of White Flower Oil, a concentrated ointment, whenever my brother or I complained about tummy aches.

A dab of the concentrated herbal ointment — that has a sharp smell that combines menthol, eucalyptus, and a hint of lavender — on my belly, temples, or behind my ears, and relief would follow almost instantly.

Today, I carry a small bottle whenever I travel and keep one at my bedside.

It’s also a staple for motion sickness, muscle aches, or even mild stomach pain.

2. Start every morning with a hot cup of water


An electric kettle and a white mug with warm water.

Hot water helps her with digestion and circulation.

Provided by Faye Bradley

My mom had firm rules about drinks. Hong Kong summers are stifling — often 90 degrees Fahrenheit and humid — yet anything cold in the morning was discouraged.

In TCM, hot water is believed to support digestion and circulation, while cold drinks can “shock” the body and disrupt internal balance.

Switching to hot water first thing in the morning may sound trivial, but it transformed my mornings. My energy feels steadier, my stomach calmer, and I start the day feeling grounded instead of jolted awake.

I used to brush off her advice, but after seeing my friends do the same, I began incorporating it into my routine in my late teens.

To think she was right all along.

3. Never go to bed with wet hair


Woman taking a photo in the mirror at a hair salon.

She avoid going to sleep with wet hair.

Provided by Faye Bradley

“You’ll get sick!” my mom would yell every time I tried to crawl into bed with damp hair.

I used to roll my eyes, but now, decades later, I have to admit she was right. Sleeping with wet hair often leaves me stiff, chilled, and inexplicably irritable — not just uncomfortable, but subtly disruptive to my body’s rhythm and sleep quality.

For me, blow-drying signals closure: a pause at the end of the day and a small act of respect for my body. By keeping warm and dry before bed, I wake up more rested, my muscles looser, and my mind calmer.

4. Don’t underestimate the rice cooker


Black rice cooker plugged in.

Rick cookers can do more than make rice.

Provided by Faye Bradley

I remember heading off to university in the UK and asking my future British flatmates in a group chat whether anyone was bringing a rice cooker. “What’s that?” they replied. “We just boil rice in a pan.” I was stunned. When I moved in, I quickly realized I couldn’t live without one. It makes the rice taste better.

And my rice cooker isn’t just for rice. My mom taught me it’s perfect for complete meals: chicken, vegetables, and rice all in one pot. The magic isn’t just convenience — steaming keeps food tender, flavorful, and healthy, locking in nutrients while reducing oil. It’s practical, too, with fewer pots to scrub.

It’s heartening to see these traditions embraced more widely. For me, they’ve always been simple acts of care; practical, grounding habits shaped by generations before us.




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Chong Ming Lee, Junior News Reporter at Business Insider's Singapore bureau.

I’ve been a product manager at one of China’s biggest tech firms. Here’s how Chinese AI products are built differently.

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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Yilin Zhang, an AI product manager at AI startup Kuse who worked at Meituan for more than three years. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his employment and academic history.

I graduated from Tsinghua University with a master’s degree in computer science in 2021 and then joined Meituan — one of China’s biggest tech firms — as a product manager.

At Meituan, China’s platform for local services, especially known for food delivery, I worked on two AI projects. One was a consumer-facing AI assistant that helps users complete various tasks, including ordering food. The other was a merchant-facing AI agent designed to help businesses manage their daily operations, including handling reservations, managing orders, and supporting routine operational tasks.

The main difference between how products are built in China and in the US comes down to the market.

Why Chinese tech companies are so cost-efficient

Across most large Chinese tech companies, AI product development accelerated more aggressively around 2025.

The AI initiatives I worked on at Meituan started around April or May of that year. It coincided with the surge of interest around DeepSeek, when attention around AI agents took off.

Large companies began racing to build AI projects, and almost every business unit launched its AI initiative.

For a long time, especially before 2021 or 2022, Chinese tech companies were primarily focused on domestic competition rather than overseas expansion. Because competition in China is intense, tech companies were forced to become extremely efficient. Their execution methods have been sharpened to an almost frightening degree.

Constraints have also pushed Chinese AI companies to pursue different paths, with a strong focus on open-source models and cost efficiency. These limitations forced exploration in new directions, and those paths have proven valuable in their own way.

DeepSeek is a good example. Because of international restrictions, it couldn’t access large numbers of GPUs and was forced to innovate around efficiency instead.

Why Chinese AI products differ from the West

Chinese and overseas markets are fundamentally different, leading to distinct user bases, expectations, and product designs.

Chinese users have a much lower willingness to pay for software; hence, many mass-market AI products, such as Doubao, tend to be free. The core objective is often to scale active usage.

Many capabilities are packaged into a single prompt you can ask, essentially a chatbox interface with a low barrier to entry.

International AI products target users doing high-value tasks. They are more often designed for desktops than for mobile devices, with interfaces better suited to work contexts. These products explore how AI and humans can collaborate and intersect across different work scenarios, helping users complete tasks more effectively and efficiently.

In China, that user group is relatively small. That makes it harder for its mainstream AI products to move beyond chat-based forms into more advanced products.

China’s internet success over the past decade has also largely come from consumer-facing apps. That environment forces product managers to obsess over user feedback and relentlessly polish even the smallest features.

Teams may spend enormous effort refining a tiny feature just to win over a small group of users. In markets with less competition, that level of detail isn’t always necessary.

The AI startup scene is growing in China

After three to four years at Meituan, I felt I had learned most of what I could from that environment. I left to join the AI startup Kuse in October.

AI is evolving extremely fast. In large companies, iteration speed can be slower. Many of my friends across different Big Tech companies share this same frustration. Smaller, more agile companies can adapt faster.

In the past, top graduates had basically two paths: becoming a civil servant or joining a Big Tech company.

That’s changing. Especially over the past year, many AI startups have emerged, and more young people are choosing entrepreneurship. AI has created a new path outside Big Tech.

By 2025, not being involved in AI at all will feel like staying in the PC internet era of 2010 instead of joining the mobile internet wave.

Do you have a story to share about working in a Chinese tech company? Contact this reporter at cmlee@insider.com.




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