Senator Moreno pushes total Chinese auto ban ahead of Trump-Xi May summit

Republican Senator Bernie Moreno said on Tuesday he will introduce legislation next month to toughen a US government ban on Chinese automakers. He also encouraged other countries to follow suit.

The Biden administration imposed a sweeping regulation in January 2025 that effectively bans all Chinese automakers from selling passenger vehicles in the United States. The ban cites national security concerns about the ability of vehicles to collect sensitive data on American owners.

The ban has strong backing from US carmakers and other auto groups. Earlier this month, major trade groups urged the government to keep Chinese carmakers out, according to a letter seen by Reuters, ahead of Trump's planned May summit with Xi Jinping.

Senator Moreno said his proposed legislation would go further than the ban on imports, and would seal off the US so "there's never a scenario where a Chinese automobile will enter our market, that's hardware, that's software, that's partnerships."

"There will not be a Chinese automobile here. And what I'm hoping is that Latin America, Mexico, Canada and Europe, adopt our same standards now," he said at an Automotive Forum event ahead of the New York Auto Show.

"We don't allow Huawei to come into our telecommunications infrastructure. We're not going to allow Chinese automakers into this market," Moreno said, referring to US government rules barring the Chinese telecom company. "We're going to prevent the cancer from coming into our market, and we're going to need the other countries to do chemotherapy."

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said China’s door has been open to global auto companies but the United States has "engaged in trade protectionism and set up obstacles including discriminatory subsidy policies to obstruct access to the US market by Chinese-made cars."

The embassy added Moreno's legislation "violates the principles of a market economy and fair competition, and is typical protectionism and economic coercion. China firmly opposes this."

Trump ​is expected to visit China in May as the world's two biggest economies seek to maintain ​the stability that has characterized their relations since late last year, after a bruising period marked by Trump’s tariffs and ‌China’s chokehold ⁠on rare earths exports.

In January, Trump said he was ​open to Chinese automakers building vehicles in the United States. "If they want to ​come in ⁠and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbors, that’s great, I love that,” he told the Detroit Economic Club.

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