The U.S. administration, led by President Joe Biden, has now announced that it has finalized the rules imposing a ban on Chinese and Russian software and hardware in light passenger vehicles, a measure that could potentially be extended to commercial vehicles by elected President Donald Trump.
The Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce announced on Tuesday that technologies from China and Russia “pose an undue and unacceptable risk to the national security of the U.S.”.
U.S. officials state that modern vehicles equipped with devices that connect them to the internet are akin to computers and could potentially collect sensitive data—from drivers or owners—thus violating consumer privacy rules, or allow foreign entities to manipulate the vehicles remotely.
Thus, the approved ban aims to protect vehicles that can communicate externally via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular systems, or satellites, a feature increasingly common in new car models, prohibiting the import or sale of connected vehicles with hardware or software originating from China or Russia, as well as the sale of these components separately. The regulation also prohibits the production of vehicles in the U.S. using Chinese or Russian software and hardware.
For now, the new rule approved by the Biden administration only applies to light passenger vehicles, but the U.S. Department of Commerce has already revealed plans to initiate a similar process aimed at heavy cargo and passenger vehicles, which will need to be approved by the new administration led by the newly elected president, Donald Trump.
