Detroit demands China car ban before Beijing gets through the gate The Chinese car invasion America hasn't had — yetAmerica's auto industry is telling Congress to slam the door on Chinese-made cars before China gets the chance to establish a major foothold in the US market. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents the American auto industry, is demanding a permanent ban on the sale, import and manufacture of Chinese connected vehicles. Its warning is blunt: Beijing has already conquered chunks of the global car market and Washington should not wait until the same thing happens in America. It's about more than cheap carsThe industry says China's automotive rise has been built on a combination of government subsidies, unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft and technology that could create surveillance risks. Chinese manufacturers are rapidly expanding in Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia, Mexico and South America. America, so far, has largely been the exception. The industry's argument is essentially: Keep it that way. John Bozzella, the group's president and CEO, has urged Congress to act before the current congressional session ends in January. The demand isn't merely for tariffs. It is for a permanent legal barrier covering Chinese vehicles as well as potentially high-risk vehicle hardware and software. Congress is already movingThis isn't coming completely out of the blue. The Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation in July that would restrict vehicle sales by companies with more than 15 percent Chinese ownership. And that is where things get interesting. Under that proposal, Mercedes-Benz could potentially find itself caught in the net because Chinese investors own almost 20 percent of the German automaker. Suddenly, a law aimed at Beijing starts creating headaches for Western manufacturers as well. Democrats and Republicans agreeThere is also something increasingly unusual about the politics. The House has its own Connected Vehicle Security Act, introduced by Democrat Debbie Dingell and Republican John Moolenaar. It has attracted dozens of bipartisan co-sponsors. China policy is one of the few areas in Washington where Democrats and Republicans can still find substantial common ground. The argument is straightforward: a modern car isn't simply a machine with four wheels. It is a computer on wheels, stuffed with cameras, sensors, communications equipment, software and data. That makes the origin of the technology a national-security question as well as an automotive one. Beijing's biggest advantageThe underlying fear isn't necessarily that Chinese cars will suddenly flood American roads tomorrow. It's what happens if they are allowed to establish themselves. China has enormous manufacturing capacity, deep government support and increasingly competitive electric vehicles. Once a foreign manufacturer has built a customer base, charging network, supply chain and service infrastructure, shutting it out becomes considerably harder. The American auto industry clearly doesn't want to discover that lesson the expensive way. Protectionism or national security?There is another side to the argument. A permanent ban would be a major protectionist measure, potentially raising questions about competition, consumer choice and America's wider trade relationship with China. And if Washington starts defining ownership thresholds broadly enough, the consequences could reach well beyond Chinese carmakers. Mercedes is the obvious warning sign. The question Congress faces is therefore not simply: “Do we want Chinese cars?” It is: “How much Chinese ownership and technology is America prepared to tolerate inside its automotive industry?” Detroit wants the answer nowThe auto industry's message is unmistakable. Don't wait for Chinese manufacturers to arrive in force. Don't wait until American consumers are buying millions of Chinese connected vehicles. And don't wait until Washington discovers that banning them has become politically and economically impossible. For Detroit, the Chinese car battle is best fought before the cars arrive. Congress now has to decide whether this is sensible national-security policy — or another enormous trade wall being built around the American consumer. Either way, Beijing has clearly got America's car industry looking nervously in the rear-view mirror. SOURCE
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