U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, warned American automakers would be at a severe disadvantage if Chinese cars were allowed to be sold in the domestic market.
Speaking at a Detroit Regional Chamber event on Thursday, May 7, Slotkin touted legislation she recently introduced alongside U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, that aims at banning Chinese automakers from entering the American market. Along with economic competitiveness, Slotkin said allowing cars from China into the U.S. would create security concerns, primarily around the data gathered by vehicles.
“That is the exact detailed information an adversarial nation wants,” Sloktin said at the event, which was livestreamed. When journalist and moderator Guy Gordon asked Slotkin why that’s not a concern with other companies that collect data, including American automakers and social media websites, the first-term senator replied those companies are subject to American law and operating practices.
“We’ve worked with these companies for decades and decades,” she said. “That’s not my concern.”
Slotkin and Moreno’s bill, introduced April 29, would ban the importation, manufacture and sale of Chinese vehicles, as well as other connected equipment and software, in the U.S. The bill also would ban other adversarial nations from selling their cars and car equipment in the country, although the legislation is primarily targeted at China.
The bill, and Slotkin’s remarks Thursday, come as President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet in Beijing next week and discuss an ongoing trade dispute between the two nations.
Chinese vehicles aren’t directly banned in the U.S., but face steep tariffs designed to make the cars less attractive compared to other options.
Two other members of Michigan’s congressional delegation, U.S. Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, and Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, said Thursday they plan to introduce similar legislation in the House to ban Chinese vehicles in the U.S. later this month.
Besides national security concerns, Slotkin said Chinese automakers routinely flood the markets they enter thanks to a combination of government subsidies and overproducing vehicles, allowing the automakers to sell their cars at lower prices (although countries often put tariffs on the vehicles to protect domestic companies).
In neighboring Canada, tariffs on Chinese vehicles were reduced earlier in March, a move that directly threatens the market shares of the Detroit Three automakers in the country. Detroit Regional Chamber President and CEO Sandy Baruah said it would be difficult for domestic car companies and parts suppliers to compete with companies receiving government subsidies.
Slotkin also said she plans on introducing legislation banning Chinese-made vehicles from entering the U.S. through its borders with Canada and Mexico.
Both Ford and General Motors commended Slotkin and Moreno’s bill when it was introduced in April. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain also said April 29 the legislation would put “common sense guardrails on a major threat to our nation’s auto industry.”
You can reach Arpan Lobo at alobo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Slotkin: Allowing Chinese cars in U.S. poses economic, security risks
Reporting by Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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