Jia Yueting is taking off again?
On May 17th local time, the stock price of Faraday Future (FF) soared all the way, reaching $3.87, an increase of over 130%. Afterwards, it began to decline sharply, turning down 37.58% and closing at $1.03, with a total market value of $43.95 million. At the opening of this Monday (May 13th), its stock price was only $0.048, with a total market value of less than $3 million. That is to say, Faraday's stock price has surged more than 20 times in the next 5 days, with the highest increase exceeding 80 times at one point.
According to China Fund News, market analysis shows that the future surge in Faraday's stock price is related to Biden. On May 14th, the Biden administration announced that it will impose four times the tariff on imported electric vehicles from China, increasing the tax rate from 25% to 100%. On that day, Faraday's future stock price surged by 367%. It is reported that Faraday Future is the only Chinese background electric vehicle concept stock developed locally in the United States, and may also be the only electric vehicle concept stock that will not be affected by the ban. Therefore, it may generate huge potential for merger and acquisition value imagination, attracting speculative investment.
When Jia Yueting released a video discussing this matter, he said that more and more people are realizing the uniqueness and many unique values of Faraday as a bridge between China and the US automotive industry in the future. Jia Yueting said that under the premise of complying with relevant laws and regulations in the United States, Faraday can help car companies and supply chains quickly enter the US market, reduce trial and error and time costs, and hope to have the opportunity to cooperate with Chinese car companies in the future.
The United States announces an increase in EV tariffs on China to 100%
Expert: controllable impact
According to Xinhua News Agency, on May 14th, the United States released the results of a four-year review of the 301 tariff on China, announcing a further increase in tariffs on imported electric vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic cells, key minerals, semiconductors, steel and aluminum, port cranes, personal protective equipment, and other products from China, in addition to the original 301 tariff.
Specifically, the United States will increase the number of photovoltaic cells used to manufacture solar modules from 25% to 50%; Raise the tariff on electric vehicles from 25% to 100%; The tariff on lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries and other battery components has been increased from 7.5% to 25%; The tariffs on certain key minerals have been raised from zero to 25%. The tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese goods this time cover multiple fields and will take effect from 2024 to 2026.
The fierce action of tariffs imposed by the United States and Canada occurred against the backdrop of a significant increase in China's automobile exports. In 2023, China's automobile exports surpassed Japan and became the world's largest automobile export country. Since the beginning of this year, China's automobile exports have continued to grow at a high speed. According to data compiled by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the General Administration of Customs, in the first quarter of this year, China's new energy vehicle exports reached 455000 units, a year-on-year increase of 17.2%.
According to Xinhua News Agency on May 14th, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce stated that the US has abused the 301 tariff review process due to domestic political considerations, further increasing the 301 tariff on some products from China, politicizing and instrumentalizing economic and trade issues, which is a typical political manipulation. China strongly expresses dissatisfaction with this. The World Trade Organization has already ruled that the 301 tariff violates World Trade Organization rules. The US side not only fails to correct it, but also persists in making repeated mistakes. The US's increase in the 301 tariff violates President Biden's commitment not to seek suppression and contain China's development, and not to seek decoupling and disconnection from China. It also goes against the spirit of consensus reached by the two heads of state, which will seriously affect the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation. The US should immediately correct its erroneous practices and cancel the additional tariffs imposed on China. China will take resolute measures to defend its own rights and interests.
In response, Russian President Putin pointed out that the United States recently announced tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, "because Chinese cars are getting better and better, the United States can only engage in this unfair competition, and there are no other reasons.".
"The US policy of imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles will undoubtedly increase the cost of domestic car companies' export business in the US market, which may lead to a decrease in the competitiveness of some car companies in the US market. However, the scale of domestic companies' exports to the US is limited, so the impact is within a controllable range." Associate Professor Liu Chunsheng of Central University of Finance and Economics told the Daily Economic News.
In 2023, China's export volume of new energy vehicles reached a new high, with Europe as the largest market and Asia as the second largest market. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the top two markets account for over 70% of the market share, while the North American market only accounts for 13%. In addition, the top three countries currently exporting electric vehicles in China are Belgium, Brazil, and the United Kingdom, while the United States is not the main market.
Some argue that the tariffs imposed by the United States this time are forcing domestic enterprises to move their production processes out of China and then force them to invest or transfer technology to the United States. "However, this US tariff adjustment may also prompt domestic car companies to accelerate their technological upgrades and cost optimization, and seek more international markets to balance risks," Liu Chunsheng believes.
Jia Yueting angrily rebukes the United States
Saying "can help Chinese car companies enter the US market"
"The US has imposed four times the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, which has affected the normal competition of the global EV (pure electric vehicle) industry. This protectionist behavior is contrary to the wave of economic globalization. Especially for Chinese EV companies that have already gained global competitiveness, going global is a big blow." Jia Yueting, founder and Chief Product and User Ecology Officer (CPUO) of FF, said on his personal social media platform.
Jia Yueting stated that Faraday can help Chinese car companies and supply chains quickly enter the US market in the future.
"More and more people are paying attention to the uniqueness and many unique values of FF as a bridge between the Chinese and American automotive industries. My personal IP and I are also constantly striving to build a bridge of friendship and economic cooperation between China and the United States. Jia Yueting said that under the premise of complying with relevant laws and regulations in the United States, FF can help Chinese car companies and supply chains quickly enter the US market, greatly reducing trial and error and time costs. We hope to cooperate with Chinese car companies.".
"In the past decade, we have created an evolving, complete, mature and leading FF aiHyper 6X4 technology architecture 2.0, a leading AI platform, AI Internet application system, vehicle software system, user acquisition and user operation ecosystem that fully adapts to the U.S. automotive industry ecosystem, and achieved a leap from zero to one in the U.S. market. Chinese enterprises and supply chain partners interested in building a bridge between the U.S. and China's automotive industry can communicate with us." Jia Yueting said.
On April 24th, Faraday Future announced that it had received a letter from the NASDAQ Stock Exchange stating that it would be delisted from NASDAQ due to non-compliance with its listing rules, as the company's securities closed at $0.10 or lower for ten consecutive trading days. Faraday Future stated that the company intends to appeal the delisting ruling. Jia Yueting said, "The company is facing a very high risk of delisting, but it is not as some media have misread that it has already been delisted.". Jia Yueting stated that as the future founder of Faraday, he will do his best with the management to restore compliance and strive to maintain listing qualifications.
According to a report by Shenzhen Business Daily on May 16th, Faraday Future stated that the sharp rise in stock prices this week marks the beginning of the "FF listing qualification defense battle" being carried out by founder Jia Yueting, which has given great confidence to the capital market and the company itself.
It is reported that Jia Yueting has been manufacturing cars for 10 years, and Faraday Future has delivered a total of 11 cars. According to official data from Faraday Future, only 10 FF91 2.0 Futurist Alliance vehicles were delivered in 2023, including one owned by Jia Yueting. According to official disclosure, among the 10 car owners are well-known American real estate developers and entertainment industry celebrities. On February 7, 2024, Faraday Future and Jia Yueting announced the delivery of one FF91 2.0 Futurist Alliance to the company of Hollywood star Morgan Freeman.
In mid March, Faraday filed a recall plan with the US Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall 11 FF91 2.0 units produced in 2023. The reason for the recall is that when the airbag control unit (ACU) detects a system malfunction, a software error may prevent the airbag malfunction warning light from turning on, and the driver will not be warned that the ACU has lost communication. If the airbag is correctly deployed during a collision, it may increase the risk of passenger injury. In response to the above defects, Faraday will upgrade the iHUB module software through OTA in the future.
In April this year, Jia Yueting stated that he had accumulated over 10 billion US dollars (approximately 72 billion yuan) in debt over the years, and there was no debt under the US legal system. "Nevertheless, I will still do my best to resolve the debt under the Chinese legal system as soon as possible," Jia Yueting said. He also said, "There are rumors that the accumulated repayment of around $10 billion between me and the company was made through the FF stock debt trust, which is completely wrong and false. In fact, almost all of this $10 billion was repaid through cash, and during the repayment process, many assets were sold at a low price and forcibly auctioned, with auction prices less than half of their actual value, in order to quickly raise funds.".
"The day I successfully built the car and paid off the debt is when I return to my home country," Jia Yueting said.
According to data from Qichacha, as of now, Jia Yueting has been executed with a total amount exceeding 1 billion yuan, and the outstanding amount in this case exceeds 8 billion yuan. From this perspective, Jia Yueting's journey back to China may still be long.