South Michigan News

Washington, D.C. -- Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Bob Latta (R-OH), and Marc Veasy (D-TX) sent a bipartisan letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo urging the Administration to investigate and limit the operations of autonomous vehicles made by Chinese companies in the United States, as a matter of national security and competitiveness. 

“Autonomous vehicles are essential to the future of the automotive industry and continuing the global leadership of this country. Last year, nearly 43,000 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes. This is a national crisis that we have unfortunately come to expect. AVs and their already regulated predecessors, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), are the key to reducing and even eliminating traffic fatalities,” the lawmakers write. “But Americans will not benefit from the future AVs promise to bring if the United States continues its current trajectory of inaction. China is already filling the void to set global standards, establish supply chains, and deploy the technology on its own.”

“The People’s Republic of China also has strong restrictions on United States autonomous vehicle companies operating or testing in China. We are concerned that we are ceding a serious strategic advantage by not barring Chinese companies from operating in the United States in return,” the lawmakers continue. “Technology used by AVs, LiDAR, RADAR, cameras, AI, and other advanced sensors and semiconductors, can all be used to collect data on the American people and infrastructure that could be shared back to China and ultimately to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The massive amount of data being collected by these cars could give the CCP an unprecedented vantage point into the United States. Beijing has already pioneered the use of big-data analytics to identify dissidents at home, and we are concerned that those tactics could be deployed here and abroad.”

“We urge you to seriously consider the national security and competitive risks of allowing Chinese autonomous vehicle companies and technology producers to operate and test in the United States, all while restricting American companies from testing on roads in China,” the lawmakers conclude. “We ask that you coordinate with NHTSA, as well as any other relevant agency, to investigate the prevalence of these companies in our country and identify pathways to restricting their access and ability to operate here. It is imperative that we prioritize American leadership in autonomous vehicle technology and do not cede competitive advantages to an adversarial nation that does not share our values and commitment to freedom.”

Original source can be found here.