ICYMI: Dingell Spearheads Effort Blocking Chinese Companies from Disrupting American Manufacturing and Workers

This week, as President Trump was in China for a two-day summit with Xi Jinping, U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) called on the president to keep his word to the American people and not allow China to manufacture in the U.S. or let Chinese car companies disrupt the American auto industry.

Congresswoman Dingell helped spearhead a bipartisan legislative effort alongside Congressman John Moolenaar (R-MI-04), Chairman of the Select Committee on China. The duo introduced the Connected Vehicle Security Act, legislation that would prohibit the importation, manufacture, and sale of connected vehicles, software, and hardware linked to China.

ICYMI, media coverage of their bipartisan efforts can be found below:

CNBC: Auto-state lawmakers seek to keep certain Chinese vehicles out of U.S. as Trump heads to Beijing

• Bipartisan lawmakers from Michigan on Tuesday announced legislation that would ban Chinese-made "connected vehicles," software and hardware from the U.S. market, ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
  
  
• Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., chairman of the House Select Committee on China, and Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., rolled out the "Connected Vehicle Security Act," [...] that would codify Biden-era connected vehicle restrictions over national security and data collection concerns. Connected vehicles have internet access and wireless connectivity with other cars or trucks, technology that supporters say can enhance roadway safety.
  
  
• "We are not competing on a level playing field when China subsidizes its manufacturers, it manipulates its currency [and] it uses slave labor. That's not a level playing field," Dingell said in a press conference Tuesday announcing the bill. "What [China is] trying to do is to get inside our country and fight us from within."

Detroit News: Amid Trump trip, Michigan duo latest to float Chinese car ban

• A bipartisan duo of Michigan lawmakers is backing a push to ban Chinese vehicles from the United States, adding yet more force behind a widespread effort to keep President Donald Trump from opening the American marketplace to a major competitive threat.
  
  
• Trump has repeatedly signaled openness to allowing Chinese automakers to manufacture in the United States, on the campaign trail in 2024 and notably during an appearance at the Detroit Economic Club earlier this year.
  
  
• Dingell led a group of Democratic U.S. House members in writing a letter to Trump. Moolenaar, who chairs the U.S. House Select Committee on China, joined Republican members on their own letter.

Washington Post: Are cars the next TikTok?

• President Donald Trump arrives in China today for a long-anticipated summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders have much to discuss - the bitter trade war, the actual war in Iran, the future of Taiwanese sovereignty. One issue is top of mind for a bipartisan cohort of lawmakers: cars.
  
  
• "President Trump is President Trump, and you never quite know what he's going to do until he does it," Dingell said.
  
  
• Dingell said she was sympathetic toward buyers who want a cheap alternative to cars already in the U.S., particularly with constituents grappling with inflation and high fuel costs. But she warned China could jack up prices once it has cornered the market.
  
  
• "China has a pattern of coming in, subsidizing the cost, to keep the price lower, destroying industry, and then jack up the price," Dingell told us. "This is about America's future. This is about the American worker's future. We know their pattern, and we're not going to let them do it."

CBS News Detroit: Michigan Reps. Dingell, Moolenaar introduce bill pushing to keep Chinese vehicles out of U.S.

• The Connected Vehicle Security Act stems from the fear that Chinese cars pose a threat to our auto industry and national security.
  
  
• "When the Chinese subsidizes its manufacturers, it manipulates its currency, it uses slave labor. That's not a level playing field and what they're trying to do is fight us from within," Dingell said.
  
  
• Paul Eisenstein, the editor of Headlight.News tells CBS Detroit that the high-tech but far less expensive Chinese vehicles could tear down the auto brands based in Metro Detroit that employ hundreds of thousands of Michiganders.
  
  
• Lawmakers say national security is another key aspect of this new proposed legislation.

Reuters: House lawmakers introducing bill to toughen US ban on Chinese vehicles

• Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday will introduce legislation to toughen a U.S. government ban on Chinese automakers from ‌entering the American market just before President Donald Trump heads to China for talks.
  
  
• In ‌March, ⁠auto trade groups representing nearly all major car companies -- including the Detroit Three, Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), opens new tab, Hyundai (005380.KS), opens new tab and Toyota (7203.T), opens new tab , parts manufacturers, auto dealers and others urged the U.S. government to keep out Chinese carmakers, citing "serious concerns about China's ongoing efforts to dominate global automotive manufacturing and to ⁠gain access to the U.S. market."
  
  
• They added China poses "a direct threat to America's global competitiveness, national security, and automotive industrial base."
  
  
• Chinese autos also face high tariffs, but U.S. consumers have become ⁠more interested in the vehicles, recent surveys show.
  
  
• In January, Trump said he was open to Chinese automakers building vehicles in the United States.

WEMU: Rep. Dingell co-sponsors bill to ban Chinese vehicles in U.S.

• Ann Arbor Congresswoman Debbie Dingell has introduced bipartisan legislation with Caledonia Republican John Moolenaar to ban Chinese vehicles in the U.S.
  
  
• Called the Connected Vehicle Securities Act, the legislation would prohibit the importation, manufacture and sale of vehicles, software and hardware linked to China.
  
  
• Dingell says the timing is important with this week's upcoming China-U.S. summit.
  
  
• China has been accused of using technology to collect and transmit sensitive information from vehicles it produces.

Michigan Advance: Michigan members of Congress push ban on connected Chinese vehicles in America

• U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) and John Moolenaar (R-Caledonia) introduced legislation into the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday to prohibit the importation, manufacture and sale of connected vehicles, software, and hardware linked to China.
  
  
• The legislation, known as the Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026, would also apply to vehicles or related software and hardware from Russia, North Korea or Iran.
  
  
• Dingell joined Democratic members of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, which Moolenaar chairs, on a tour of a General Motors plant and a United Auto Workers chapter in metro Detroit on Saturday, to similarly discuss the impact of Chinese manufacturing and supporting
  
  
• "We are not competing on a level playing field, when China subsidizes its manufacturers, it manipulates its currency, it uses slave labor," Dingell said in the press conference with Moolenaar. "That's not a level playing field. And what they're trying to do is to get inside our country and fight us from within."