Some Western manufacturers, such as Volvo, a Swedish group but controlled by the Chinese company Geely, Polestar, Buick (GM group) or Lincoln (a Ford subsidiary) sell cars made in China.
The American manufacturer Tesla also produces electric vehicles in China for export.
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“Cars are no longer just steel on wheels, they are computers. They have cameras, microphones, GPS devices and other technologies connected to the internet,” said outgoing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. .
“With this decision, the Commerce Department is putting in place the rules necessary to protect Americans’ privacy and national security by keeping out our adversaries and their ability to manipulate these technologies to gain access to information sensitive,” she added.
Concretely, the new rules require car manufacturers to do without any equipment or software from suppliers “with a sufficient link with China or Russia”.
A ban that only applies to private vehicles, with the Commerce Department estimating that the supply chain for buses and trucks is more complex.
“Specific rules will be clarified in the near future” for these vehicles, the press release said.
Electronics are increasingly integrated into modern cars and most vehicles today are connected to the internet through a navigation system.
The emergence of driver assistance and autonomous driving software further increases the risk of unwanted external interventions in the control of a car in circulation.
In mid-September, Washington had already announced that electric cars imported from China would be taxed at 100% from September 27
