About 20 Democrats within the U.S. Congress on Tuesday urged Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum to handle nationwide safety considerations posed by internet-connected autos produced by Chinese language automakers in Mexico.
All trendy vehicles and vans have onboard community {hardware} offering web entry that permits them to share information with units each inside and out of doors the car.
The lawmakers led by Consultant Elissa Slotkin and Senator Sherrod Brown requested Sheinbaum in a letter to ascertain a nationwide evaluation and to ship a delegation to the USA by early 2025 for talks.
The U.S. fears that China, a strategic and financial rival in addition to buying and selling companion, may use information collected by related autos for surveillance or, in excessive circumstances, remotely management them via the web and navigation methods.
“We consider that this physique of information, underneath the management of the Chinese language Communist Social gathering, is a nationwide safety menace,” mentioned the letter, additionally signed by Senators Gary Peters, Debbie Stabenow and Tammy Baldwin.
Final week, U.S. President Joe Biden proposed prohibiting Chinese language software program and {hardware} in related autos on American roads, which might successfully bar Chinese language vehicles and vans from the U.S. market and ban new autos produced in Mexico by Chinese language automakers.
China rejects the U.S. criticism, and has mentioned the U.S. transfer “has no factual foundation, violates the rules of market economic system and truthful competitors, and is a typical protectionist strategy.”
The Biden administration is taking steps to forestall Chinese language vehicles from being bought the USA, and advocacy teams have warned of what they are saying is unfair competitors from closely state-subsidized Chinese language electrical autos.
This month, Biden hiked tariffs on Chinese language-made EVs by 100% though solely 4 Chinese language light-duty autos are presently bought in the USA. Congress permitted laws in 2022 to bar EVs inbuilt China from receiving tax credit.
The lawmakers famous Chinese language automakers have made inroads within the Mexican market, saying it raised “vital considerations” that they have been now in search of to make use of Mexico as a base to enter the U.S. market.
The letter famous that Chinese language electrical car maker BYD is planning to construct a manufacturing unit in Mexico, which it mentioned “raises the potential for Chinese language firms to aim to avoid these [U.S.] tariffs with manufacturing in Mexico.”
