American Senator Calls Chinese Cars 'Cancer' to be Prevented

Geely is present in the Netherlands, bringing smart electric mobility to the Benelux market. (Photo: Geely Global)

Senator Bernie Moreno, Republican Party, announced his plans to introduce a comprehensive bill this month. Where, the aim is to significantly tighten the US government's restrictions on Chinese car manufacturers.

This rule is said to effectively close the US market for any vehicle that has ties to China, whether in terms of hardware, software, or partnerships. As reported by Reuters.

In his statement at the Automotive Forum ahead of the New York International Auto Show, Moreno emphasized that the bill was designed to ensure that there would never be a scenario where a Chinese-made car entered the American market.

The policy is said to go beyond the regulations of the Joe Biden administration, which began to be implemented in January 2025, which currently prohibits the sale of Chinese passenger cars due to concerns related to national security and potential data collection.

Moreno also compared the automotive sector with the telecommunications industry, referring to the ban on Huawei in the US. "We do not allow Huawei to enter our telecommunications infrastructure," Moreno said, quoted by Carscoops, Thursday, April 2.

"We will not allow Chinese car manufacturers to enter this market. We will prevent cancer from entering our market, and we will need other countries to do chemotherapy," he continued.

This firm stance is also reflected in its supervision of US technology companies. In February, Moreno criticized Waymo in a Senate hearing for cooperating with Geely, the parent company of China's Zeekr.

He assessed that the move by the Alphabet-owned company was contrary to the ambitions of the US technology leadership because it used Chinese-made vehicles for the robotaxi program. Not only focusing on domestic policy, Moreno also encouraged allied countries to follow a similar move.

"What I hope is that Latin America, Mexico, Canada, and Europe adopt the same standards as we have now," he said.

The bill reportedly received support from domestic car manufacturers as well as a number of automotive industry associations who encouraged the government to maintain strict barriers against Chinese automotive products to protect the domestic market.

On the other hand, this policy has drawn criticism from the Chinese Embassy in Washington. In its statement, the embassy assessed that the United States was practicing trade protectionism and implementing discriminatory subsidy policies, which were considered to violate the principle of fair competition.

This legislative step emerged amid a sensitive diplomatic dynamic, following President Donald Trump's plan to visit China in May. This situation raises the potential for a different approach, given that Trump had previously opened the door for Chinese car manufacturers to build production facilities in the US, as long as they continue to employ local workers.