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US to finalize Chinese vehicle crackdown rules next week
President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration is finalizing rules Tuesday that will effectively bar nearly all Chinese cars and trucks from the U.S. market, as part of a crackdown on vehicle software and hardware from China.
Washington’s latest move against Chinese vehicles comes after the Commerce Department said this month it was considering a similar crackdown on Chinese-made drones, in the wake of last year’s steep tariff hikes on imports of its electric vehicles.
In the final rules, the U.S. Commerce Department said it was making some changes, such as exempting vehicles heavier than 10,000 pounds from the requirements, which would let China’s BYD continue to assemble electric buses in California.
On Monday the department said it planned to propose soon rules barring Chinese software and hardware in larger commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses. A final decision will be up to the incoming Trump administration.
In a shift, the department said the bans would not cover Chinese software developed before the new rules took effect, so long as a Chinese firm was not maintaining it.
That means General Motors and Ford could potentially continue to import some Chinese-made vehicles for U.S. buyers, a senior official told reporters.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing GM, Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor, and other major automakers, unsuccessfully sought an additional year to meet the hardware requirements.
Polestar, the Swedish automaker that is a brand of China’s Geely warned in October that without changes the Commerce rule would “effectively prohibit” it from selling vehicles in the United States.
An administration official said officials expect Polestar would need to seek specific authorization under the final rule. Polestar declined to comment.
In September, the Biden administration finalized steep tariff hikes on Chinese electric vehicle imports and this month it put key Chinese battery company CATL on a list of firms accused of aiding the country’s military.
President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, wants to prevent Chinese auto imports but is open to Chinese automakers building vehicles in the United States.
