On Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce proposed rules to ban Chinese technology from internet-connected vehicles in the U.S. The plan was unveiled by the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security after a seven-month investigation, and it is intended to be finalized by January of next year. The rules would apply to all vehicles–including cars, trucks, and buses—operating on public roads, with software restrictions coming into effect in 2027 and hardware restrictions in 2030. Edward Helmore from The Guardian described how fears of espionage fueled the U.S. government’s decision:
The proposed rules come as Chinese automakers become more powerful in global markets, exporting a flood of high-tech vehicles and posing new challenges to western manufacturers, with governments fearing that installed sensors, cameras and software could be used for espionage or other data collection purposes.
[…] The new rules, described as a national security action coming out of the US chamber of commerce, focus on Vehicle Connectivity System (VCS) and software integrated into the Automated Driving System (ADS).
“Malicious access to these systems could allow adversaries to access and collect our most sensitive data and remotely manipulate cars on American roads,” the department said in a statement on Sunday. [Source]
David J. Lynch at The Washington Post provided more detail on what American officials believe are the specific threats posed by Chinese technology in these vehicles:
At issue are the hardware and software that connect vehicles to remote computers using WiFi, Bluetooth or cellular technology, or that provide the onboard brains that allow cars and trucks to operate without a driver.
“Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking and other technologies connected to the internet. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “In an extreme situation, foreign adversaries could shut down or take control of all their vehicles operating in the United States all at the same time.”
Modern vehicles in many cases are effectively wheeled computers, with their on-board systems constantly connecting to their manufacturers or to critical infrastructure such as charging stations while gathering voluminous audio and video data on drivers’ personal habits, said national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
“We’ve already seen ample evidence that [China] pre-positioned malware in our critical infrastructure for the purpose of disruption and sabotage. And with potentially millions of vehicles on the road, each with 10- to 15-year life spans, the risks of disruption and sabotage increase dramatically,” Sullivan said. [Source]
The rules are ostensibly aimed at Russia as well, but China accounts for a much larger share of the global electric vehicle (EV) market. American officials portrayed the restrictive measures as precautionary and proactive, since the number of Chinese vehicles in the U.S. is still relatively low. “This is a strictly national security action,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. But she also said that the swift Chinese entrance into the European market was a “cautionary tale.” Trade concerns may be a motivating factor: in May, the U.S. government began a global trend by imposing tariffs of up to 100 percent on Chinese EVs to protect domestic auto manufacturers. The Biden-Harris administration has also projected itself as a champion of the U.S. auto industry, and with the presidential election just weeks away and a bipartisan competitive consensus around China, the rules follow a certain political logic. David E. Sanger, Madeleine Ngo, and Jack Ewing from The New York Times described how such restrictions are likely to continue expanding over time:
Richard Fontaine, the chief executive of the Center for a New American Security who is an author of the recently published book “Lost Decade: The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power,” said in an interview that the move was an expansion of the U.S. effort to create a “high fence around a small yard” of strategically important goods.
“On China tech, it’s clear that the ‘small yard’ is growing in size and will continue no matter who wins the election in November,” Mr. Fontaine said. “Policymakers of all stripes are increasingly worried about the national security risks that attend Chinese technology, particularly when they imagine what might happen in a confrontation.”
[…] “The precedent is significant, and I think it just reflects the complexities of a world where a lot of connected devices can be weaponized,” said Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “The security competition and rivalry between the U.S. and China is increasing. So, certainly, there is a possibility that this precedent could expand over time.”
[…] “This is likely to be opening the door, over a number of years, to a much broader governmental set of actions,” said [Peter Harrell, who was previously the National Security Council’s senior director for international economics during the Biden administration]. [Source]
Asked for a response to the U.S. government’s plans, the Chinese embassy in Washington cited comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian: “As a principle, I want to emphasise that China opposes the US generalisation of the concept of national security and discriminatory practices against Chinese companies and products.” However, the Chinese government has already imposed its own national-security-fueled rules against Teslas due to concerns about the vehicles’ ability to collect data via their cameras and other sensors. Chinese military staff and employees of key state-owned companies have been forbidden from owning Teslas since 2021. Teslas were prohibited from entering Beidaihe for two months during last summer’s annual gathering of CCP leaders, and Teslas were similarly banned from certain roads in Chengdu in advance of Xi Jinping’s visit to the city. In an incident last September that went viral online, a police officer refused a Tesla driver’s permission to cross a bridge in Hangzhou, “because [your car] is a Tesla.” The driver protested, “That’s ridiculous!” and the policeman answered, “It is a bit ridiculous, but you must obey.”
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