Raimondo Says Connected Vehicle Proposed Rule Will Come Out This Fall

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Senate appropriators that a proposed rule on connected vehicles should come out in the fall.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who asked her about the timeline, told Raimondo that while hiking tariffs on Chinese vehicles is "certainly helpful" in making sure domestic production of electric vehicles thrives, he's concerned that Chinese firms with factories in Mexico and Europe will be able to "evade rules meant to create a level playing field."

Raimondo responded, "I couldn't agree more." She said Chinese-made cars capturing 25% of the European EV market is "a cautionary tale." (Only 11% of the EVs made in China and sold in Europe are by Chinese brands; Tesla has the largest market share.)

She said President Joe Biden hiked the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese EVs to 100% "so that doesn't happen to us."

She said the administration is worried about China opening manufacturing in Mexico, which could then qualify for USMCA benefits. "The purpose of USMCA was not to help China," she said. "We are going to do whatever we need to do to make sure China doesn't use Mexico to end run around these new tariffs."

The rule on connected vehicles could be such a tool. Raimondo said "the national security risks are quite significant" for advanced cars made by Chinese firms, saying that those cars are controlled by software designed in China, and those who receive the data from those cars know where the car is driven and "what you're saying in your car."

She said, like TikTok, connected cars "collect massive amounts of data on U.S. citizens."

"We decided to take action because this is really serious stuff."

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked the Seafood Import Monitoring Program to do more to curtail the import of Chinese crawfish produced in "horrible, horrible environmental conditions" and to keep seafood with heavy antibiotic residues out of the country. He said, "If you eat enough shrimp from India, you will grow an extra ear."

Raimondo chuckled.

"Something's gotta be done," Kennedy said, saying the food is unsafe and costs U.S. jobs.

Raimondo responded, "It's clear we can do more, and I want to work with you to do more. We are extremely focused on transshipment of fish from China through Vietnam, which is why we imposed a countervailing duty on that."

She said CBP is working on combating illegal fishing, mostly by China.