Challenging Trump's Tariffs: How a Chinese Company Is Redefining Global Trade with AI and 3D Printing

“We don’t need to export vehicles to the United States,”  

“We simply transmit the technology to print them.”  

In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Yu Chuan, founder and CEO of PIX Moving, explained the company’s unconventional strategy.  

According to Nikkei, PIX Moving, a Chinese autonomous vehicle startup, is bypassing traditional trade routes by combining artificial intelligence and 3D printing technologies. Rather than shipping physical goods, the company transmits digital blueprints via the cloud to partners around the world.  

01 / From Physical Goods to Digital Trade  

PIX Moving uses AI to design vehicles, which are then translated into 3D printing paths. These digital files are uploaded to the cloud, where local teams worldwide can download and print vehicle parts on-site. With metal 3D printing at the core of their autonomous vehicle chassis production, PIX Moving has shifted from manufacturing to a digital service model. This paradigm enables identical products to be fabricated across borders, effectively circumventing tariff barriers.  

02 / 3D Printing: Not Merely a Tool to Evade Tariffs  

“The decision to use metal 3D printing and AI-driven generative design was not initially motivated by avoiding tariffs,” said Yu Chuan.  

“Traditional automotive manufacturing lines are tailored for large-scale production, while PIX’s 3D printing system supports low-volume, high-variety output. Even a single unit can be efficiently produced.”  

Yu’s journey began not in automotive engineering but in architectural design. A lifelong enthusiast of computing, intelligent manufacturing, and robotics, he ventured into drone development before realizing the potential of merging AI with 3D printing to build vehicles.  

Ironically, his lack of formal training in automotive engineering became an asset. “Engineers, conditioned by years of academic and industry experience, often find it hard to break free from conventional thinking. They’ve been taught one way to build cars—but it’s neither the only way, nor necessarily the best.”  

Unencumbered by industry dogma, Yu took a bold step in rejecting traditional automotive production methods in favor of a radically new approach rooted in 3D printing.  

03 / The Foundation of 3D Printing: AI-Powered Design  

By leveraging AI-driven generative design, Yu’s team dramatically reduced the number of vehicle components. AI is already surpassing human designers in creativity: engineers input constraints such as weight, dimensions, and load-bearing requirements, and the software autonomously generates a range of viable solutions. These designs are then refined through iterative learning and optimization, enabling engineers to select the most promising option.  

In PIX’s early days, most vehicle parts were non-standard and unavailable through conventional suppliers in cities like Guangzhou or Shanghai. Printing entire vehicles posed far greater challenges than drones.  

A breakthrough came in late 2017 when Yu stumbled upon a YouTube video by a Dutch company printing the world’s first metal 3D-printed bridge. It was then that he fully grasped the potential of the technology to manufacture large-scale structures.  

From that moment, Yu and his team embarked on an intensive phase of research and experimentation. “There were setbacks—curved objects collapsed during printing, robots deviated from intended paths—but we kept learning and refining.” To date, PIX Moving holds dozens of patents in 3D printing, positioning itself as a global leader in the field.  

Recently, PIX developed a vehicle with a chassis and frame entirely produced through metal 3D printing—from concept to prototype in under a year.  

Beyond 3D printing, PIX has independently developed RTM™ (Real-Time Molding) technology, which shapes any sheet metal without traditional stamping, guided by AI algorithms and robotic arms.  

04 / A New Manufacturing Logic: Distributed Production and Tariff Avoidance  

PIX Moving’s innovations in metal 3D printing and RTM™ drastically simplify production processes, minimize reliance on supply chains, and reduce equipment investment. This enables distributed manufacturing near target markets, cutting down on logistical costs and environmental impact.  

By producing locally and selling locally, PIX legally and efficiently sidesteps tariff regimes.  

In December 2024, PIX’s robotic manufacturing facility in Japan began operations, built and launched in under six months—another testament to the efficiency of digital manufacturing.  

This groundbreaking model has attracted significant investor attention, including backing from Silicon Valley VC SOSV, Japan’s listed TIS Inc., and Chinese firms such as China Exploration & Design Association and Zhejiang Merchant Capital.  

More significantly, PIX Moving’s digital manufacturing paradigm is poised to reshape the very fabric of global trade.