According to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to issue new regulations in August to restrict vehicle software from China.
The new rules come as the Biden administration steps up scrutiny of Chinese car imports to prevent China’s cheap electric vehicles from flooding the market.
Alan Estevez, the U.S. undersecretary for industry and security at the U.S. Department of Commerce, said in a speech at a forum in Colorado that the Commerce Department will propose rules that would require certain automotive software to be manufactured in the United States or its trading partners. According to Reuters, Estevez said the rules would cover “critical driving components of the vehicle that manage the software and manage the data surrounding the car.”
The new rules come as the Biden administration steps up scrutiny of Chinese auto imports
The survey focuses on “connected vehicles,” a broad term that can apply to any car that can connect to the internet. It is intended to address concerns that technology such as cameras, sensors and onboard computers could be exploited by foreign adversaries to collect sensitive data about U.S. citizens and infrastructure.
China has previously accused the United States of repeatedly abusing the “national security concept”, wrongly targeting Chinese companies and hindering global market competition.
The new rules could eventually mirror similar provisions in the federal electric vehicle tax credit, prohibiting the credit from applying to vehicles with Chinese-made battery components. The U.S. government has also proposed imposing steep tariffs on Chinese cars to make them cost-prohibitive to sell in the United States.
