Michigan Reps. Dingell, Moolenaar introduce bill pushing to keep Chinese vehicles out of U.S.
A bipartisan bill introduced in Washington, D.C., by Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and Congressman John Moolenaar would prohibit the importation, manufacture or sale of Chinese cars in the United States.
The Connected Vehicle Security Act stems from the fear that Chinese cars pose a threat to our auto industry and national security. A similar bipartisan bill was introduced last month by Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno
"When the Chinese subsidizes its manufacturers, it manipulates its currency, it uses slave labor. That's not a level playing field and what they're trying to do is fight us from within," Dingell said.
Paul Eisenstein, the editor of Headlight.News tells CBS Detroit that the high-tech but far less expensive Chinese vehicles could tear down the auto brands based in Metro Detroit that employ hundreds of thousands of Michiganders.
"There's downright fear, we've heard Jim Farley talk about this, the CEO of Ford, saying that if the Chinese were let in here, it could be a so-called existential threat. In some cases, they've got vehicles coming in for 10 thousand dollars or so in some markets, and these aren't just junk cars," said Eisenstein.
Lawmakers say national security is another key aspect of this new proposed legislation.
"Every vehicle on American roads is a rolling data collection device capturing information on location movement, people and infrastructure in real time, and we cannot allow Chinese vehicles or their components to be a part of that system," Moolenaar said.
Eisenstein says that fear may well be justified, even though he expects Americans to one day have Chinese cars on their roads. Similar to Canada, Mexico and other countries that may view China as an adversary.
"Nobody wants to be in a position, for example, that a Chinese EV stops running on the middle of the highway because of a trade war or worse between the U.S. and China," said Eisenstein.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has come out in strong support of this potential ban, saying that all of the manufacturing we've brought back here to the states is at risk if we let cheap, government-subsidized Chinese vehicles into the United States.
