Six prominent automotive trade organizations have called on President Donald Trump to sustain policies that prevent Chinese automakers from selling, importing, or manufacturing vehicles in the United States. The letter, delivered on Thursday, arrives ahead of an expected meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington next week.
The coalition, which encompasses representatives from domestic and foreign manufacturers, suppliers, and approximately 17,000 franchised dealers, emphasized the strategic importance of the domestic auto sector. “The automotive sector is foundational to our advanced manufacturing and defense base, with the capacity and workforce to respond during a national emergency. Once that base is hollowed out, it can’t be rebuilt overnight,” the letter stated.
This industrial appeal counters remarks Trump made on September 11 during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” where he indicated openness to Chinese companies establishing production facilities in the U.S. “If China wanted to come in and open a plant to build their cars here, I’d be OK with it,” Trump said.
However, the trade groups argue that permitting Chinese manufacturing operations would jeopardize recent administrative efforts to curb “Chinese dominance in key industries” and undermine fair competition. They highlighted that Chinese automakers benefit from significant government subsidies and are aggressively expanding their footprint globally.
While the industry has previously sent separate messages to the administration, this latest correspondence marks a more unified front, signed by leaders of all major automakers currently operating in the U.S., including Tesla.
They’re right about the defense base vulnerability. You can’t rebuild an auto supply chain overnight during a crisis.
Trump said he was OK with it last September. Why the sudden policy pivot now? Just politics?
Protecting local industry is one thing, but building walls around auto manufacturing seems counterproductive long-term.
Is ‘fair competition’ the real argument, or just a shield for domestic manufacturers against cheaper imports?
Interesting that Tesla signed this. I thought they were all about disruptive global expansion?
If they let Chinese factories open, our jobs are gone. Glad to see the industry standing together on this.