Senators Peters, Stabenow, and Brown Urge the Administration to Take Additional Action to Strengthen Domestic Automobile Manufacturing and Combat National Security Threats Posed by Chinese Automakers

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are urging the Administration to build on its historic progress to strengthen domestic automobile manufacturing through the electric vehicle (EV) transition, help American companies better compete with China, and combat national security threats posed by Chinese automakers. In a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the senators underscored the need for continued application of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese vehicles and welcomed the Administration’s recently announced efforts to investigate vehicles with ties to foreign countries of concern.

“Allowing heavily subsidized Chinese vehicles to enter the U.S. marketplace would endanger American automotive manufacturing. We note that domestic automakers are also investing billions of dollars in the transition to make EVs in the U.S. with American workers,” wrote the senators.“Artificially low-priced Chinese EVs flooding the U.S. would cost thousands of American jobs and endanger the survival of the U.S. automotive industry as a whole. To bolster American manufacturing and protect the domestic EV transition, USTR must move immediately to maintain or increase Section 301 tariffs on Chinese EVs.”

The senators also expressed their support of the Department of Commerce’s recent advanced notice of proposed rulemaking related to foreign adversary involvement in the connected vehicle supply chain and urged the investigation to place an emphasis on vehicles and high-risk technologies controlled by Chinese Communist Party-backed companies.

“This investigation is essential to protect American consumers and critical infrastructure from exploitation or sabotage from Chinese state actors, while also supporting U.S.-led innovation in vehicle technology,” the senators continued.“To achieve this goal, we urge your immediate focus on CCP-backed companies that may seek to circumvent tariffs to export highly connected vehicles while you work alongside the domestic automotive supply chain to identify high-risk connected and autonomous technologies controlled by our adversaries that could directly harm consumers or pose a risk to our cybersecurity or criticalinfrastructure.”

Senators Peters, Stabenow, and Brown have previously led efforts to bolster domestic automobile manufacturing and support the EV transition. Together, they helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which included important clean energy tax credits to incentivize consumers to purchase EVs. The senators also supported the bipartisan infrastructure law, which is making historic investments to deploy charging infrastructure across the country and included a provision backed by Peters and Stabenow providing $8 million to the City of Lansing to increase publicly available EV charging stations.

You can read the full letter below or here.

Dear Secretary Raimondo and Ambassador Tai, 

We write to express support for this Administration’s recognition of the importance of ensuring continued strong domestic automobile manufacturing throughout the electric vehicle (EV) transition as an economic and national security imperative, and to urge additional action this year. Over the past three years, we have been proud to work with you to make historic progress with legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act to boost American manufacturing, rebuild our infrastructure to prepare for the future of mobility, and ensure that the future of the automotive industry is built in Michigan and across America by workers earning fair wages.

In this context, we urge you to take additional steps to combat the threats posed to domestic automotive manufacturing, American consumers, and U.S. national security interests by EVs made by Chinese automakers. Specifically, we urge the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to resolve its statutory review of existing Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods and increase existing tariffs on Chinese automobiles. Additionally, we welcome the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) recent advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding highly connected vehicles from countries of concern. We urge the Department of Commerce to focus its investigation on the national security threat posed by the potential import of highly connected Chinese vehicles and high-risk China-controlled connected and autonomous technologies.  

Allowing heavily subsidized Chinese vehicles to enter the U.S. marketplace would endanger American automotive manufacturing.  We note that domestic automakers are also investing billions of dollars in the transition to make EVs in the U.S. with American workers. Artificially low-priced Chinese EVs flooding the U.S. would cost thousands of American jobs and endanger the survival of the U.S. automotive industry as a whole. To bolster American manufacturing and protect the domestic EV transition, USTR must move immediately to maintain or increase Section 301 tariffs on Chinese EVs.  

We additionally welcome the Department of Commerce’s recent advance notice of proposed rulemaking related to foreign adversary involvement in the highly connected vehicle supply chain. This investigation is essential to protect American consumers and critical infrastructure from exploitation or sabotage from Chinese state actors, while also supporting U.S.-led innovation in vehicle technology. To achieve this goal, we urge your immediate focus on CCP-backed companies that may seek to circumvent tariffs to export highly connected vehicles while you work alongside the domestic automotive supply chain to identify high-risk connected and autonomous technologies controlled by our adversaries that could directly harm consumers or pose a risk to our cybersecurity or critical infrastructure.

The Biden administration’s leadership has been critical to boosting domestic manufacturing, reducing carbon emissions and securing the continued promise of good-paying automotive jobs inMichigan and Ohio andacross the nation. We look forward to continuing to work with you in achieving our mutual economic and national security goals.

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