U.S. Automakers May Have to Stop Selling Chinese-Built Vehicles Here

The United States’ tariffs on Chinese vehicles has obvious targets in the well-known automakers from the country, but American companies will see significant impacts from the changes. A recent report from Reuters shows that Ford and General Motors both import vehicles built in China for sale in the U.S., and may need to move production elsewhere.

Currently, Ford sells the Lincoln Nautilus, and GM sells the Buick Envision in the U.S., which are built in China and imported. The Commerce Department’s information and communications technology office head, Liz Cannon, said, “We anticipate at this point that any vehicle that is manufactured in China and sold in the U.S. would fall within the prohibitions.” She also noted that production of any vehicle built in China intended for U.S. sale “would need to be shut down in China and moved elsewhere.”

This revelation follows another Commerce Department announcement, in which it said it would propose a ban on connected vehicles with embedded Chinese or Russian technologies. The government’s investigation of the vehicles found that hardware and software from those countries could be remotely sabotaged or have their owners’ personal data hacked.

Those rules would not impact vehicles already sold and in use here. The software portion of the ban would start with vehicles from model year 2027, and hardware bans kick off in 2030. While the changes aim to protect national security and individuals’ data, they will also significantly impact Chinese auto companies’ ability to do business here from a financial standpoint.

[Images: Ford, General Motors, Weibo]

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