* Senator Moreno seeks broader ban covering Chinese auto
hardware, software, and partnerships
* U.S. carmakers and trade groups support ban, urge
allies to adopt similar measures
* Trump previously expressed openness to Chinese
automakers building plants in the U.S
(Adds quotes, details, no immediate comments from Chinese
embassy in Washington, from paragraph 2)
By Kalea Hall and David Shepardson
NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - Republican Senator Bernie
Moreno said on Tuesday he will introduce legislation next month
to toughen a U.S. government ban on Chinese automakers from
entering the American market, and encouraged other countries to
follow suit.
The Biden administration imposed a sweeping regulation that
effectively bans all Chinese automakers from selling passenger
vehicles in the United States in January 2025, citing national
security concerns about the ability of vehicles to collect
sensitive data on American owners.
The ban has the strong backing of U.S. carmakers and other
auto groups. Earlier this month, major auto trade groups urged
the U.S. government to keep Chinese carmakers out of the
country, according to a letter seen by Reuters, ahead of
President Donald Trump's planned summit with Chinese President
Xi Jinping in May.
Senator Moreno said his proposed legislation would go
further than the ban on imports, and would seal off the U.S. so
"there's never a scenario where a Chinese automobile will enter
our market, that's hardware, that's software, that's
partnerships."
"There ill not be a Chinese automobile here. And what I'm
hoping is that Latin America, Mexico, Canada and Europe, adopt
our same standards now," he said at an Automotive Forum event
ahead of the New York Auto Show.
"We don't allow Huawei to come into our telecommunications
infrastructure. We're not going to allow Chinese automakers into
this market," Moreno said, referring to U.S. government rules
barring the Chinese telecom company. "We're going to prevent the
cancer from coming into our market, and we're going to need the
other countries to do chemotherapy."
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
Trump is expected to visit China in May as the world's two
biggest economies seek to maintain the stability that has
characterized their relations since late last year, after a
bruising period marked by Trump's tariffs and China's chokehold
on rare earths exports.
In January, Trump said he was open to Chinese automakers
building vehicles in the United States. "If they want to come
in and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and
your neighbors, that's great, I love that," he told the Detroit
Economic Club.