Biden wants to ban Chinese tech in cars over national security fears

President Joe Biden announced that the US would hit Chinese EV makers with a 100% tariff earlier this year.

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The Department of Commerce unveiled new plans to ban Chinese tech from internet-connected cars on Monday.It’s the latest push to keep China out of the US auto industry.The rules will impact Chinese self-driving car companies, which have been testing their vehicles in California.

President Joe Biden has already issued a 100% tariff on EVs made in China — now his administration wants to remove Chinese tech from US cars entirely.

On Monday, the US government proposed new rules to ban Chinese and Russian-developed software and hardware from internet-connected cars in the US, saying that such vehicles threatened national security.

It marks the Biden administration’s latest crackdown on Chinese products.

“Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking, and other technologies connected to the internet,” said US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

“It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens,” she added.

The proposed ban on Chinese software would apply to cars with a model year of 2027, the US Department of Commerce said, with the hardware ban coming into effect in the 2030 model year.

Although few Chinese vehicles are on US roads, lawmakers have previously raised concerns that Chinese cars with autonomous driving features could collect sensitive data on US citizens and infrastructure.

The new rules would prevent the testing of Chinese self-driving cars on US roads, Reuters reported. Several Chinese self-driving companies have permits to test their vehicles in California, although some have been quietly rolling back testing in recent years.

The proposals could also cause problems for Google-backed Waymo, whose robotaxis have proven popular in San Francisco and other cities.

The company’s next-generation robotaxi is built by Chinese firm Zeekr, although Waymo has previously stressed that its autonomous driving system is “designed and assembled in America.”

Waymo and the Department of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment sent outside normal working hours.