Last week, the United States Senate Commerce Committee approved new legislation that could endanger Mercedes-Benz and Volvo Cars’ ability to sell vehicles within what has historically been one of their largest markets.
Assuming the proposal becomes law, any automaker with over 15 percent of its ownership controlled by Chinese entities will be prohibited from selling vehicles within the United States.
Introduced by Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), and co-sponsored by Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan), the bill would ban the import, sale and operation of vehicles manufactured by companies deemed “foreign entities of concern” by nature of being based in certain nations deemed adversarial. While the current focus is on China, other countries would be incorporated further down the line. The bill would also ban the use of connected vehicle technologies developed by those countries, which is something Congress seems particularly interested in of late.
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