US to ban Chinese connected car software and hardware, citing security risks

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

The US government is readying its latest measure to defend local automotive manufacturing. In May, US President Joe Biden levied new 100 percent tariffs targeted at specific Chinese automakers. Now, the US Commerce Department is set to enact a de facto ban on most Chinese vehicles, by prohibiting Chinese connected car software and hardware from operating on US roads, according to Reuters.

The rationale? National security concerns. “When foreign adversaries build software to make a vehicle [connected], that means it can be used for surveillance, can be remotely controlled, which threatens the privacy and safety of Americans on the road,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

“In an extreme situation, a foreign adversary could shut down or take control of all their vehicles operating in the United States all at the same time, causing crashes, blocking roads,” said Secretary Raimondo, a scenario we saw depicted in Fate of the Furious (where it caused me a headache), as well as more recently (and to better effect) in Leave the World Behind.