Automakers urge Congress to quickly pass law banning Chinese cars

WASHINGTON: A group representing major automakers on Thursday urged Congress to pass legislation barring Chinese vehicles from the US market before the end of the year.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen , Hyundai, Honda, Stellantis and other major automakers, called for quick action. “Right now, Chinese automakers are dumping subsidized vehicles with connected software and hardware around the world,” the group’s CEO John Bozzella wrote Congress in a letter seen by Reuters. “This hasn’t happened inside the US yet, but given the scale and urgency of this threat, we urge you to enact a Chinese vehicle, software and hardware ban before adjourning this year and make this policy the law of the land.”

In July, the Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation to toughen a government ban on Chinese automakers entering the American market, but it still faces hurdles to winning final passage. Bozzella said passing the bill “will send a clear and bipartisan message that China’s strategy to dominate global automotive manufacturing will be met with a national security response from the American government.”

The Chinese embassy, which did not immediately comment, opposes US efforts to ban China’s vehicle exports. The Alliance in July urged the committee to consider as part of the legislation explicitly prohibiting the Commerce Department from granting specific authorizations to Chinese automakers such as “BYD, Chery, SAIC Motor and others subsidized by the Chinese Communist Party to manufacture, sell or import connected vehicles to the US,” according to a previously unreported letter.

Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, proposed legislation to codify a regulation imposed by the Biden administration that effectively bans all Chinese automakers from selling or building passenger vehicles in the US and takes other steps to prevent China from entering the US light-duty market.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz said a provision in the bill that would ban companies with more than 15percent ownership by Chinese entities would bar Mercedes-Benz from selling vehicles in the United States because of its nearly 20percent passive Chinese investment. Cruz said the bill required changes before it could become law.