Car industry
A car from the Chinese brand Nio. — © Reuters
The US could take “extreme action” and ban so-called “mobile connected” vehicles from China. US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said this on Wednesday evening.
In February, Joe Biden’s administration had announced an investigation into “connected vehicles” from China (think of smart cars, which are equipped with sensors and connected to the internet) and whether they could pose a risk to national security . These vehicles can collect “large amounts of sensitive data about their drivers and passengers,” the White House said at the time. And they can “use their cameras and sensors to capture detailed information about U.S. infrastructure.”
Trade Minister Gina Raimondo told Reuters on Wednesday that all data from the survey has been received since the end of April, but that it is still being processed. “We will then figure out what action we want to take,” he said. “We could take extreme action. That means no China-linked vehicles in the United States, or restrictions.”
Earlier, Raimondo had indicated during a hearing in the US House of Representatives that she was concerned about Chinese connected vehicles that could collect “vast amounts of data about Americans, who they are, what they say in their cars, where they go, their driving behaviour”. She added that the United States “needs to take the threat much more seriously.”
Dam against tidal wave
Raimondo did not say when a decision would be made. The Biden administration has long criticized the rise of cars from China. Although relatively few Chinese-made light vehicles are still imported into the US, the president has repeatedly said he will take action against “the tidal wave” of Chinese cars. Like the EU, he is considering raising import tariffs.
