NEW YORK — The U.S. Department of Commerce is seeking a ban on the sale of connected and autonomous vehicles in the U.S. that are equipped with Chinese and Russian software and hardware. The goal is to protect national security and American drivers.
The measure announced Monday is proactive but crucial, the agency said, as all the bells and whistles in cars, such as microphones, cameras, GPS tracking and Bluetooth technology, can make Americans more vulnerable to malicious actors and potentially expose personal information, from drivers’ home addresses to their children’s school locations.
In extreme situations, a foreign adversary could disable or simultaneously take over multiple vehicles traveling in the United States, causing accidents and blocking roads, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters in a phone call on Sunday.
“This is not about trade or economic advantage,” Raimondo said. “This is strictly a national security action. The good news is we don’t have a lot of Chinese or Russian cars on our roads right now.”
But Raimondo said Europe and other regions of the world where Chinese vehicles have quickly become commonplace should serve as “a cautionary tale” for the U.S.
Concerns have emerged about the safety of extensive software-controlled features in Chinese vehicles in Europe, where Chinese electric cars have rapidly gained market share.
“Who controls these data flows and software updates is far from a trivial question. The answers touch on issues of national security, cybersecurity and individual privacy,” wrote Janka Oertel, director of the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, on the council’s website.
Vehicles today are ‘mobility platforms’ that monitor the behavior of the driver and passengers and map their surroundings.
A senior official said the terms of service that come with the technology make it clear that data from vehicles ends up in China.
Raimondo said the US will not wait until the roads are filled with Chinese or Russian cars.
“We are proposing a proposal to address these new national security threats before suppliers, automakers, and auto parts ties to China or Russia become commonplace and widespread in the U.S. automotive sector,” Raimondo said.
A senior administration official said it’s difficult to predict when China will reach that saturation level, but the Commerce Department says China hopes to enter the U.S. market and several Chinese companies have already announced plans to enter the auto software market.
The Commerce Department added Russia to the regulations as the country tries to “breathe new life into the auto industry,” senior administration officials said on the call.
The proposed rule would ban the import and sale of vehicles with software and hardware made in Russia and China that enable the vehicle to communicate externally via Bluetooth, cellular, satellite or Wi-Fi modules. It would also ban the sale or import of software components made in Russia or the People’s Republic of China that collectively enable a highly autonomous vehicle to drive without a driver at the wheel. The ban would include vehicles made in the U.S. using Chinese and Russian technology.
The proposed rule would apply to all vehicles, but would exclude vehicles not used on public roads, such as agricultural or mining vehicles.
According to senior administration officials, trade officials met with every major automaker in the world to gain a better understanding of their supply chains, and they also spoke with several industry groups during the drafting of the proposed regulations.
While there is minimal Chinese and Russian software deployed in the U.S., the issue is more complicated for hardware. That’s why Commerce officials said the software bans would go into effect for the 2027 model year, and the hardware bans would go into effect for the 2030 model year, or Jan. 1, 2029, for non-model-year units.
The Commerce Department invites public comments, which must be submitted 30 days after publication of a rule before it becomes final. That should happen toward the end of the Biden administration.
The new rule follows steps taken earlier this month by the Biden administration to take tougher action against cheap products sold from China, including electric vehicles, a broader effort to reduce US dependence on Beijing and strengthen domestic industry.
_____
AP Business Writer David McHugh contributed to this story from Frankfurt, Germany.