Relatively few Chinese-made light vehicles are imported into the United States. (representative)
The United States is investigating whether Chinese car imports pose a national security risk and may impose restrictions over concerns about “connected” car technology, the White House said on Thursday.
The White House said the Commerce Department investigation was necessary because the vehicles “collect large amounts of sensitive data about drivers and passengers (and) regularly use cameras and sensors to record detailed information about U.S. infrastructure.”
The investigation will also look at self-driving vehicles, as the vehicles can be “remotely driven or disabled.”
“China’s policies could flood our markets with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I will not let that happen on my watch. occur.”
White House officials told reporters it was too early to say what action might be taken and said no decision had yet been made on whether China’s connected cars might be banned or restricted.
Officials told reporters that the U.S. government has broad legal powers to take actions that could have “enormous consequences.”
Biden called the move “unprecedented action to ensure that cars coming from countries of concern, like China, do not harm our national security.”
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and nearly all major automakers, said the Commerce Department should “work closely with the auto industry to determine the scope of any action.”
The group urged the Commerce Department to target transactions that “pose undue risks to the U.S. economy and national security” but not to “capture low-risk transactions that could have short-term unintended effects on advanced vehicle safety technologies.”
Relatively few Chinese-made light vehicles are imported into the United States. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the government was taking action to prevent them from becoming widespread and “potentially threatening our privacy and national security.”
Chinese electric car makers have been targeting Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe as their largest export markets. BYD, the world’s largest electric carmaker by sales, has repeatedly said it has no plans to sell cars in the U.S. market, but said on Wednesday it was looking for factories in Mexico to produce cars for the market.
BYD also said on Wednesday it would start selling its Dolphin Mini electric car in Mexico for 358,800 Mexican pesos ($21,019.33), less than half the price of the cheapest Tesla.
China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that Chinese cars are popular globally not because of “so-called unfair practices” but because they stand out in fierce market competition and are technologically innovative.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Zedong said that China urges the United States to respect the laws of market economy and the principle of fair competition, stop exaggerating the concept of national security, stop discriminatory suppression of Chinese companies, and maintain an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment. Ning Jizhe said at a regular press conference.
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, said it would be unfair to impose exclusive restrictions on cars from specific countries among all vehicles equipped with smart sensors.
Separately, the Biden administration is considering new tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles and officials are facing new pressure to restrict imports of Chinese electric vehicles from Mexico.
The United States has passed rules aimed at weaning the U.S. electric vehicle battery chain away from China and excluding companies and consumers from tax benefits when using materials from China, which dominates the electric vehicle battery supply chain.
In December, China said it violated international trade rules and would disrupt global supply chains.
In November, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers issued a warning about Chinese companies collecting and processing sensitive data while testing self-driving cars in the United States.
The Commerce Department will seek comments for 60 days and then consider drafting regulations to address the issues. The investigation will also seek details about current U.S.-assembled vehicles, including where automakers license software.
The United States has previously banned Chinese telecom companies from its market over data concerns and labeled Huawei and ZTE as threats, requiring U.S. carriers to remove their equipment from U.S. networks.
The White House said China imposes strict restrictions on U.S. cars and other foreign vehicles operating in the country. “Why should Chinese connected cars be allowed to operate in our country without safeguards?” Biden said.
China has tightened regulations on domestic data management in recent years, with most industries having to apply for licenses to transfer data abroad.
In May, authorities tightened data rules for the auto industry and proposed banning Chinese smart cars from transmitting data directly abroad, forcing them to instead use domestic cloud services.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
