The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is expected to take up bipartisan legislation Wednesday that would tighten the government’s existing restrictions on Chinese automakers trying to sell vehicles in the United States, though some details of the bill are still being worked out ahead of the vote.
A Republican senator from Ohio, Bernie Moreno, and a Democratic senator from Michigan, Elissa Slotkin, introduced the legislation back in April. The bill is designed to formally write into law a regulation put in place by the Biden administration that effectively shuts Chinese automakers out of the U.S. passenger vehicle market. It would also take additional steps to block China from gaining a foothold in the American light-duty vehicle segment.
Under the proposed legislation, any automaker with more than 15% Chinese ownership would be barred from selling vehicles in the United States. That threshold would affect Mercedes-Benz, which has nearly 20% of its ownership tied to Chinese entities. According to U.S. lawmakers, Mercedes-Benz is actively lobbying to get that provision changed before the bill moves forward.
