- Each day of a continuing violation counts separately.
- Covers China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran from 2027.
- BYD and CATL were named directly by the bill’s authors.
Americans hopeful that some of the innovative cars coming out of China will eventually arrive on local shores should prepare to be disappointed. Newly introduced legislation from two members of the US House of Representatives seeks to completely ban Chinese cars from US shores, further reinforcing the effective ban made under the Biden administration.
The Connected Vehicle Security Act, introduced by Select Committee on China chairman John Moolenaar and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, seeks to prohibit the importation, manufacture, sale, and introduction of connected vehicles originating from or controlled by a covered foreign adversary, including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
Read: China Is Blocked From Selling Cars In America, Yet Three Democratic Senators Still Sent This Letter
Additionally, the bill would prohibit connected vehicle software linked to these countries as of January 1, 2027, with hardware prohibitions following on January 1, 2030, and directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a declaration-of-conformity process and a binding ruling and advisory opinion mechanism to ensure industry compliance. Each violation would carry civil penalties of at least $1.5 million, or five times the value of the transaction, whichever is greater. Each day a violation continues would count as a separate violation.
Protecting Local Brands
The bill aims to codify the regulations that former President Joe Biden instated in January 2025, which prohibit connected vehicle software and hardware linked to China and Russia. The reason is simple. The US wants to protect its car industry and believes China poses a serious threat to it.
“China cheats in every industry, and in autos it is overproducing vehicles and components, and selling them for cheap in hopes they will put our companies out of business,” Moolenaar said. “In some cases, Chinese companies, including CATL and BYD, use slave labor to undercut the fair wages of hardworking Americans. These companies should not be allowed to do business in America, and their products shouldn’t be in our cars or threatening our infrastructure.”
Major car manufacturers operating in the US are backing the efforts, as Reuters reports, expressing “serious concerns about China’s ongoing efforts to dominate global automotive manufacturing and to gain access to the U.S. market.”
