Cars parked in front of a military base in the U.S. state of Alaska.
[People News] The U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party held a hearing on Thursday (December 11) titled “Trojan Horse: China’s Automotive Threat to America,” focusing on the expansion of China’s auto industry exports driven by subsidies, the squeezing of international competitors, and the data security and cyberattack risks that “intelligent connected vehicles” may pose. Lawmakers and experts unanimously warned that Beijing, through a state-led automotive strategy, is posing major challenges to the U.S. auto industry, supply chains, and national security.
According to a report by Voice of America, Committee Chairman and Republican Representative from Michigan John Moolenaar said in his opening remarks at the hearing: “China’s automotive industry is not an ordinary commercial success story; it is a political project of the CCP.” He stated that in just five years, China jumped from being a small-scale exporter to becoming the world’s largest auto exporter, exporting 6 million vehicles last year, and that it is “dumping at below-market prices that U.S. and allied automakers cannot compete with.”
Chinese Cars May Become Spy Platforms With Built-In “Kill Switches”
He further warned that today’s cars are no longer merely means of transportation, but “mobile terminals equipped with cameras, microphones, and sensors that constantly collect data. If these systems are manufactured by Chinese companies subject to Beijing’s laws, then every vehicle could potentially become a spy platform with a built-in ‘kill switch.’”
Peter Ludwig, co-founder and chief technology officer of Applied Intuition, stated at the hearing that modern vehicles have enormous data-collection capabilities, and if the manufacturer is Chinese, CCP-member executives could exploit this data at any time.
He said: “These vehicles do indeed collect massive amounts of data, especially vehicles equipped with more advanced driver-assistance systems. This data is recorded in real time while the vehicle is in motion and is typically transmitted back to the manufacturer. If the manufacturer is located in China, then there will certainly be Party members among the senior executives of these companies, who can dispose of this data at will.”
Multiple witnesses at the hearing pointed to risks centered on key components such as onboard “cellular modules.” Such modules are critical data-transmission devices for modern connected vehicles, and Chinese suppliers already control about 70 percent of the global market for automotive cellular modules. Witnesses said that these components are not only related to vehicle connectivity and data transmission, but may also become entry points for malicious software infiltration.
One of the witnesses, Charles Parton, a former British diplomat and senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said that “cellular modules” are widely used in systems such as transportation, energy, power grids, logistics, and manufacturing. Once dependence on Chinese technology or supply is formed, there could be multiple risks in a crisis, including supply cutoffs, the implantation of malicious code, or data extraction.
CCP “Exports Deflation” Globally Through Subsidies, Overcapacity, and Non-Market Means
At the industry level, one witness, Elaine Dezenski, head of a related program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), said that the CCP is “exporting deflation” globally through subsidies, excess capacity, and non-market means, threatening not only complete vehicle manufacturing but also small and medium-sized parts suppliers in the U.S. auto supply chain.
“Chinese companies are standing at the forefront of a state-backed strategy aimed at dominating global automobile production,” she said. “China (the CCP) is dumping electric vehicles and traditional fuel vehicles onto global markets through massive overcapacity created by state-driven support and subsidies. The result is a wave of Chinese industrial dumping—before cars even enter showrooms, they have already exported deflationary pressure, strangled competitors, and distorted the competitive market environment.”
Dezenski called on the United States to coordinate tariffs and import restrictions with its allies, and to strengthen enforcement against practices such as “transshipment to evade tariffs.”
Risks of Forced Labor in China’s Automotive Supply Chain
The hearing also featured questioning and discussion on forced labor, with some lawmakers emphasizing the need for stricter scrutiny of potential forced labor risks in the automotive supply chain and stronger enforcement of existing laws.
Some lawmakers also extended the discussion of Chinese automobiles to the review of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the layout of North American supply chains, expressing concern that Chinese companies might use investments and assembly operations in Mexico to indirectly enter the U.S. market. Testifying experts suggested that the U.S. should strengthen information sharing with Mexico and Canada, enforcement of rules of origin, and trade enforcement cooperation, in order to reduce “backdoor” risks.
During the hearing, lawmakers and experts proposed multiple countermeasures, including: strictly enforcing and expanding the Department of Commerce’s Connected Vehicle Rule to restrict China-linked hardware and software from entering the U.S. market; reexamining and strengthening trade agreements to close “loopholes for Chinese cars entering the U.S. market”; enhancing supply-chain resilience by promoting the production of core components in the United States or allied countries; and strengthening criminal accountability for cross-border companies suspected of violating trade rules. △
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