A new voice in the auto emissions standards debate
Photo: Andreas Gebert / Getty Images
A new coalition of auto suppliers, emissions control industry groups and an aluminum association is launching today that will fight against potential Trump administration moves to significantly weaken vehicle mileage and emissions standards.
Why it matters now: The rollout of the Automotive Technology Leadership Group arrives as the administration is revisiting mandates for model years 2022–2025 — regulations that represent a pillar of Obama-era climate policy.
The group's members are: the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association; the Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association; the Aluminum Association; the Advanced Engine Systems Institute; and the Emission Control Technology Association.
Quick take: The group that represents equipment manufacturers could be an important voice in the debate, especially because leaders in the White House, EPA and the Transportation Department aren't sympathetic to environmentalists.
Their pitch to Trump: The group argues that upending current policy would risk jobs by eroding the certainty that bolsters manufacturing investment and tech innovation.
"If the U.S. leads the way on the standards, then companies manufacturing here will also lead the way on development and innovation," says Ann Wilson, a top lobbyist with the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association.
A source close to the coalition tells Axios the group will be "primarily a messaging organization," as opposed to lobbying. Their "statement of principles" is here.
Who they are: A bipartisan pair of Beltway vets is coordinating the group. One is Patrick Quinn of the Accord Group, who was a top EPA adviser under former President George H.W. Bush. The other is Chris Miller of the firm AJW, a longtime aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Why so many Chinese asylum seekers are stuck in the U.S.
Oppressive measures such as the “one-child” policy — and Beijing’s refusal to take back most people who are deported from the U.S. — have left the U.S. with more asylum seekers from China than any other nation.
Data: Department of Homeland Security. Affirmative asylum includes people who apply right away: defensive asylum includes people who were already in deportation proceedings. Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios
Why it matters: This has long been a point of tension between the two world powers. Beijing blames the U.S. for enticing Chinese nationals to leave by granting them asylum, but the U.S. blames China for what they perceive to be oppressive policies and for making it difficult to deport people back to China.
By the numbers:
80% of Chinese defensive asylum claims — those made while already in deportation proceedings — were approved between 2012 and 2017, compared to 21% for Salvadorans and 12% for Mexicans, according to data collected from immigration courts by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
And affirmative asylum, which can be claimed by an immigrant as soon as they arrive in the U.S., is generally easier to win.
China is a big country, but India — which is almost as populous and sends as many immigrants to the U.S. — has far fewer who claim asylum.
What drives Chinese nationals to the U.S., and leads to their high asylum approval rates:
The “one-child” policy, which went into effect in 1980 and spurred widespread infanticide and forced abortions, was a compelling argument for claiming asylum. The recent decline in asylum seekers coincides with the relaxation of the policy starting in 2013. The policy officially ended in 2016.
Political dissidents came to the U.S. from China in huge numbers after the Tianamen Square protests in 1989. The nearly 80,000 Chinese nationals who claimed political asylum in the months following the protests were almost all granted legal status, according to Yun Sun, who runs the China program at the Stimson Center.
Religious dissidents include Chinese nationals who practice Islam and Christianity — as well as those who practice Falun Gong, a pseudo-Buddhist faith, Sun says.
Even if asylum is denied, many Chinese immigrants find themselves stuck in the U.S. with deportation orders as Beijing often refuses to allow their return, Doris Meissner, a former Immigration and Naturalization Service commissioner and senior fellow at Migration Policy Institute, tells Axios.
In 2017, just 525 Chinese nationals were successfully deported —up from 398 the year before. Meissner says that under the Trump administration, “DHS and ICE are under strong pressure to increase the pressure on these countries, including China, and get higher numbers of returns.”
The bottom line: There are sweeping actions the U.S. can take against countries that don't readily accept deportees — such as Cuba, Iran, Morocco and Vietnam — like refusing to issue visas to their citizens. But in China’s case, this strategy doesn’t make practical or political sense, Meissner says. China is a key economic partner, and it’s just too big.
