- U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says govt could take “extreme action” and ban or restrict Chinese vehicles.
- “We have to digest all the data and then figure out what action we want to take,” Raimondo said.
- Biden administration launched probe in February looking at security risk posed by Chinese connected vehicles.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has laid out exactly how seriously the Biden administration is taking its investigation into the threat posed by Chinese connected vehicles, telling reporters that the cars could be banned outright, preventing them from being sold and driven in America.
Raimondo warned that the U.S. government was prepared to take “extreme action” and ban Chinese connected vehicles if a probe launched in February determined that they poses a national security risk. She also suggested an alternative course of action that could result in Chinese car being allowed into the U.S., but with restrictions in place.
Related: Biden Urged To Ban Chinese EVs, But Should He?
But Raimondo said there was still much work to do before any decision could be reached on what to do about Chinese automakers eyeing up the lucrative American car market.
“We have to digest all the data and then figure out what action that we want to take,” Raimondo told Reuters, without revealing when the probe might be completed. “We could take extreme action, which is to say no Chinese connected vehicles in the United States or look for mitigation,” she explained.
What those mitigation safeguards might be is unclear, but Tesla has only recently won the right for its cars to access previously off-limit areas in China after satisfying a top auto association that they posed no security risk to Chinese authorities.
One Chinese industry expert accused Raimondo of politicizing the auto industry, telling the Global Times that any ban or restriction would be distort fair competition, and China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, claimed the moves would weaken supply chains and only end up hurting the U.S.
Although you can’t currently buy a BYD or Nio in the U.S., Geely-owned Volvo’s EX30 SUV, which is built in China, will be on sale in North America this summer and Polestar’s 2 sedan is already available. Tariffs placed on vehicles imported from China are designed to discourage automakers from importing them, but Volvo gets around the issue by using credits earned by exporting cars produced at U.S. plants.
