American lawmakers are full of ideas about excluding Chinese connected cars from American roads, but they have already started internal conflicts among themselves.
According to Nanhua Morning Post report on July 24th, the two major parties in the United States are trying to incorporate existing restrictive measures into laws and expand their scope of application, but they have shown divisions: whether the proposed ban will affect European automobile manufacturers.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has advanced the “Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026”. This bill aims to prohibit the import, manufacture, and sale of connected vehicles that are associated with China and other “foreign competitors”, and to restrict the use of related vehicle software and hardware on grounds of national security.
The bill also prohibits vehicles manufactured by companies with significant Chinese capital involvement. According to the bill, if a connected car manufacturer has more than 15% of its shares held or controlled by Chinese entities or multiple Chinese entities, then the connected cars produced by such companies may be banned from entering the U.S. market.
"We do not want to see the entire industry handed over to Chinese people." Senator Bernie Moreno (representing Ohio's Republican party) stated this regarding the proposed legislation.
"We will not engage in industry suicide, nor will we allow 'Fentanyl from the automotive industry' to enter the United States."
The practice of banning Chinese cars is not new. This bill reflects two long-standing concerns in Washington: first, the U.S. automotive industry is worried about being impacted by Chinese competitors; second, U.S. national security officials are concerned that connected cars may transmit large amounts of data to Beijing.
If the bill is passed, it will formally codify the restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce on connected cars from China and Russia before the end of the Biden administration’s tenure. It will also extend the scope of application to Iran and North Korea, and further expand the applicability of several key provisions.
However, this bill still requires review by both the House and the Senate, as well as signature by the President. The legislative process is still lengthy. At the same time, it reveals significant differences among Congressmen regarding the extent to which restrictions should be expanded.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas Republican Party, warned that unless the scope of the bill is narrowed, it will be difficult to finally become law.
Kruzi said: “The wording of the bill is too broad, extending beyond the scope of national security risks that this legislation was intended to address.”
One of the most controversial aspects of the bill is regarding the threshold for shareholding ratios. Critics believe that this regulation could inadvertently include foreign automakers with a small number of Chinese shareholders in the scope of the ban.
Members of the committee have repeatedly cited Mercedes-Benz as an example. The two major Chinese investors hold slightly less than 10% of the company’s shares each, meaning their combined holdings exceed the 15% threshold stipulated by the legislation. Therefore, this German automobile manufacturer could be included in the restrictions imposed by the legislation.
Kruzi criticized this clause harshly, believing that the driving force behind it is politics, not national security.
He said: "If the bill keeps the punitive clauses targeting Mercedes-Benz as they are now, then this bill will be impossible to pass into law."
Cruz believes that this regulation is actually weakening competitors, thereby benefiting General Motors; at the same time, it is a form of retaliation by the auto unions against Mercedes employees who have refused to join the union.
Moreno denied this claim, saying that the bill “clearly does not target Mercedes-Benz”, and noted that she herself is a Mercedes-Benz dealer.
He explained that affected companies will have time to make adjustments, and they can also apply for exemptions from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Liu Chang, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, stated that China firmly opposes the US attempt to generalize the concept of national security and use it to impose discriminatory restrictions on Chinese companies and products.
Liu Chang stated that this potential ban would 'severely damage the normal cooperation in the field of connected cars between China and the US, disrupt and distort the global automotive industry chain and supply chain, and ultimately harm the interests of American consumers.'
