Trump weighs letting Chinese automakers build EVs on US soil, NBC reports
The idea surfaces as Trump hosts Xi in Washington for talks covering trade, security and technology
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President Trump is considering a plan that would let Chinese automakers produce electric vehicles inside the United States, NBC News reports, as he hosts Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington this week.
Trump has said before that he might allow a Chinese car company to build EVs in the US if it used American workers, while keeping in place the effective US ban on imported Chinese vehicles, according to Bloomberg. He has also said he does not want Chinese automakers building cars in Mexico and shipping them into the US, NBC News reports. The US currently blocks Chinese vehicles through steep tariffs and restrictions on connected-vehicle technology from countries treated as national-security risks, according to GM Authority, which reports that any future arrangement would likely require local assembly, American labor and strict limits on ownership, software and data.
The idea has drawn pushback. A consortium of auto trade groups representing the American auto industry has urged Trump to reconsider opening the door to Chinese automakers, CNBC reports. More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers sent a letter pressing him to keep the existing restrictions in place, according to CNBC, and Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin said the issue is not partisan but about whether the US wants to keep making cars domestically and preserve a manufacturing base, CNBC reports.
The idea comes as Trump has extended the trade truce with China and welcomed Xi to Washington, with the ceasefire and seized F-35 parts among the topics on the table. Trump has said he and Xi made tremendous strides on trade, with security, technology and artificial intelligence also discussed, and Xi has said China's door is open to US firms while offering cooperation on narcotics. Taken together, the talks point to a broader push toward normalizing trade rather than a reversal of US protectionism. Xi's visit has stressed dialogue and mutual benefit across several areas, but letting Chinese EV makers produce inside the US would mark a real concession on a sector that sat at the center of the prior administration's industrial policy. Without concrete terms, the idea remains exploratory positioning in a relationship that is still tense.