Washington driving force for restrictions for which US consumers will foot the bill: China Daily editorial

In a major escalation of the United States' ongoing crackdown on the Chinese new energy vehicle industry, the US Commerce Department is reportedly planning to propose a ban on all Chinese software and hardware being used in any autonomous vehicle on the roads in the US on the pretext of addressing "national security" concerns.

The department plans to propose making the prohibitions on software effective in the 2027 model year and the ban on hardware would take effect in January 2029 or the 2030 model year. The prohibitions in question would include vehicles with certain Bluetooth, satellite and wireless features as well as highly autonomous vehicles that could operate without a driver behind the wheel.

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Thanks to its huge domestic market, cutting-edge technology and massive production capability, China now leads the global EV and EV battery industries, with its companies producing nearly two-thirds of the world's EVs and more than three-quarters of the EV batteries produced worldwide.

Yet rather than trying to leverage its own strengths or seeking win-win cooperation with China in the ongoing green transportation revolution, the US has chosen to take protectionist measures against Chinese EVs in disregard of the principle of fair trade and free market rules.

Worse, it has resorted to mudslinging tactics by spreading lies about unfounded risks associated with Chinese software or hardware in connected vehicles that have onboard network hardware allowing them to share data with devices both inside and outside the vehicle.

"We're looking at a few components and some software, not the whole car, but it would be some of the key driver components of the vehicle that manage the software and manage the data around that car that would have to be made in an allied country," Alan Estevez, US export controls chief, said back in July.

To gain support for the move among US consumers who will be forced to pay the costs of the ban, it is being presented as a personal security measure, with corresponding scaremongering being employed to back that up.

In Estevez's words, "A modern car has a lot of software in it. It's taking lots of pictures. It has a drive system. It's connected to your phone. It knows who you call. It knows where you go. It knows a lot about you."

The presumption is ridiculous. According to that logic, Beijing should be worried about Washington being ready to shut down iPhones, Tesla cars, Microsoft software, and even Boeing airplanes in China to plunge the country into complete chaos. The US' false narrative only serves to deepen the antagonism between the two nations and hinder efforts aimed at stabilizing the global industry and supply chains.

And simply from a technical perspective, the plan to ban Chinese automotive software and hardware could also be hard to carry out, given that the systems of cars on the roads have to "undergo extensive preproduction engineering, testing, and validation processes and, in general, cannot be easily swapped with systems or components from a different supplier", according to a trade group representing major automakers including General Motors, Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Hyundai and others.

Washington has always said that it seeks competition, not conflict, with China. Yet what it has done by targeting Chinese-made EVs and automotive components belies that claim.

The US auto industry will not thrive if its politicians continue politicizing economic and trade issues by twisting the laws of market economy and fair competition. If Washington is sincere in wanting to set up guardrails for Sino-US relations, it must end its discriminatory suppression of Chinese companies.