Congress members push Chinese auto parts ban before Trump China trip

Bipartisan lawmakers from Michigan on Tuesday announced legislation that would ban Chinese-made “connected vehicles,” software and hardware from the U.S. market, ahead of President Donald Trump‘s meeting this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., chairman of the House Select Committee on China, and Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., rolled out the “Connected Vehicle Security Act,” closely mirroring bipartisan Senate legislation from Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, that would codify Biden-era connected vehicle restrictions over national security and data collection concerns. Connected vehicles have internet access and wireless connectivity with other cars or trucks, technology that supporters say can enhance roadway safety.

“We are not competing on a level playing field when Chinese subsidizes its manufacturers, it manipulates its currency [and] it uses slave labor. That’s not a level playing field,” Dingell said in a press conference Tuesday announcing the bill. “What [China is] trying to do is to get inside our country and fight us from within.”

Under the proposal, prohibitions on connected vehicle software would take effect Jan. 1, 2027, while restrictions on hardware would begin Jan. 1, 2030. The bill also would cover Russia, North Korea and Iran.

The legislation comes as automakers, suppliers, dealers and steelmakers ramp up warnings that heavily subsidized Chinese automakers could undercut the U.S. industrial base if allowed into the market.

More than 120 bipartisan House lawmakers last month urged Trump not to allow Chinese automakers into the U.S., after the president suggested in January he would be open to Chinese automakers building factories in America if they hired U.S. workers. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have since said there are no plans to roll back existing restrictions.

“[With] President Trump, you never quite know what he’s going to do until he does it,” Dingell said. “So what we’re all trying to do is to send a message to him. The future of the American auto worker and the American auto industry and he needs and wants to protect it.”