Senators call for ban on Chinese cars in the US

Three Democratic senators have called on President Donald Trump to ban Chinese automakers from producing vehicles in the United States and prevent Chinese cars assembled in Mexico or Canada from entering the US market. According to Reuters, these are Senators Tammy Baldwin, Elissa Slotkin and Chuck Schumer.

"We must be clear that inviting Chinese automakers to set up operations in the United States would give them an insurmountable economic advantage that U.S. automakers would be unable to compete with and would create a national security crisis that would be impossible to reverse," the lawmakers said in a letter to Trump.

The senators pointed to Trump's comments earlier this year in which he said he was open to the idea of Chinese automakers building factories in the U.S. Currently, there are already high barriers to Chinese cars in the United States, including import tariffs of around 100%.

The White House said that "while the administration has continually sought to get more investment in revitalizing American industry, any notion that we would ever jeopardize our national security to do so is unfounded and untrue."

Trump, during a visit to Detroit in January, spoke positively about the possibility of Chinese automakers building vehicles in the United States. "If they want to come in, build a plant and employ you, your friends and neighbors, that's great, I like that," he said.

(reuters, tasr)