Bipartisan Legislation Announced to Ban Chinese Vehicles From American Roads

Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, have announced plans to introduce bipartisan legislation to keep Chinese-connected vehicles off America’s roads.

“Every vehicle on American roads is a rolling data collection device, capturing information on location, movement, people, and infrastructure in real time, and we cannot allow Chinese vehicles or components to be a part of that system,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement on May 7.

The legislative push follows escalating warnings from U.S. national security officials. The Department of Commerce finalized a rule in 2025 prohibiting certain transactions involving the sale or import of connected vehicles integrating specific pieces of hardware and software, or those components from China.

In early 2024, then-Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo cautioned that connected vehicles from adversarial nations such as China could be weaponized.

“Imagine if there were thousands or hundreds of thousands of Chinese-connected vehicles on American roads that could be immediately and simultaneously disabled by someone in Beijing,” she said.

Similarly, Moolenaar previously detailed a specific conflict scenario during a December 2025 hearing titled “Trojan Horse: China’s Auto Threat to America.”

“Imagine a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, where senior U.S. leaders [rush] toward the Pentagon and White House to coordinate a response, only to find the roads blocked as Chinese‑made vehicles suddenly stall, veer, or lock their brakes,” he said.

This physical threat is compounded by cyberinfiltration. Then-FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in 2024 that China’s state-sponsored hackers, such as the Volt Typhoon group, are posturing themselves to be able to take down vital U.S. resources, including transportation systems, at a moment’s notice.

Beyond cyber and physical risks, the legislation seeks to protect the American industrial base from predatory mercantilism. Stephen Ezell, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, warned in a September 2025 analysis that allowing Chinese Communist Party‑backed automakers into the U.S. market—even through U.S.‑based assembly plants—could trigger an “extinction-level event” for the American auto industry.

According to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, the Chinese regime directed $230.9 billion in subsidies into its electric vehicle sector between 2009 and 2023, enabling Chinese firms to underprice global competitors and “decimate” foreign manufacturing.

The House bill aligns with the Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026 in the Senate, introduced by Sens. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.). Slotkin has described Chinese vehicles as “surveillance packages on wheels,” and she has said that the legislation provides the legal guardrails needed to prevent China from hollowing out the American auto industry.