Chinese electric car brands Neta and Zeekr have inflated sales in recent years to meet aggressive targets, with Neta selling more than 60,000 vehicles.
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Michigan bipartisan lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled a bill that would ban Chinese-made “connected vehicles,” software and hardware from the U.S. market ahead of this week’s meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Rep. John Moolener (R-Mich.), chair of the House Select Committee on China, and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced the Connected Vehicle Security Act, which closely mirrors the bipartisan Senate bill by Sens. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) that would codify Biden-era connected vehicle regulations, citing national security and data collection concerns. Connected cars have internet access and wireless connections with other cars and trucks, and supporters say the technology can make roads safer.
“When China subsidizes manufacturers, manipulates its currency and uses slave labor, we are not competing on a level playing field. It is not a level playing field,” Dingell said at a news conference Tuesday announcing the bill. “What[China]is trying to do is get inside our country and fight us from within.”
Under the proposal, the connected car software ban would come into effect from January 1, 2027, and the hardware restrictions would begin from January 1, 2030. The bill also targets Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
The legislation comes as automakers, suppliers, dealers and steelmakers increasingly warn that allowing heavily subsidized Chinese automakers into the market could undermine the U.S. industrial base.
Last month, more than 120 bipartisan members of Congress called on President Trump not to allow Chinese automakers to operate in the U.S., after Trump suggested in January that he would be open to allowing Chinese automakers to build factories in the U.S. if they hired American workers. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later said there were no plans to lift existing restrictions.
“President Trump, you don’t know what you’re going to do until you do it,” Dingell said. “So that’s what we’re all trying to do to send a message to him: the future of American autoworkers and the American auto industry, and he needs it and wants to protect it.”
