Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said Chinese automakers should not be allowed to build factories in the United States, arguing that heavily subsidized competition from Beijing would hurt domestic manufacturers in her home state of Michigan and create security risks.
Slotkin Warns Of Jobs And Security Risks
In a post on X on Monday, Slotkin wrote, “Inviting Chinese automakers to set up in the US is bad for Michigan and our economy,” then warned that the Chinese Communist Party makes the vehicles “dirt cheap” through state subsidies and that connected cars could collect video and location data that might be sent back to Beijing.
Democrats Press Trump To Shut Door
According to a Reuters report on Monday, Slotkin joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) in a formal letter urging President Donald Trump to block Chinese automakers from opening manufacturing plants in the United States and to stop Chinese vehicles assembled in Mexico or Canada from entering the U.S. market.
The lawmakers pointed to Trump’s January remarks in Detroit, where he said he would welcome Chinese automakers building plants in the United States if they hired American workers. Reuters reported that Chinese autos already face barriers of roughly 100% in tariffs, even as some recent surveys suggest American consumers have shown growing interest in them.
Auto Industry Backs Tougher Stance
“We must be clear-eyed that inviting China’s automakers to set up shop in the United States would confer an insurmountable economic advantage impossible for American automakers to overcome, and it would trigger a national security crisis that could never be reversed,” the senators wrote in the letter.
Asked about the appeal, the White House told Reuters that while the administration wants more investment tied to America’s industrial revival, any suggestion it would sacrifice national security to do so is “baseless and false.”
Trump’s earlier comments remain a flashpoint. Speaking at the Detroit Economic Club in January, he said, “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.”
But the push to shut that door has broad industry support. Reuters separately reported last month that trade groups representing nearly all major automakers urged the administration to keep Chinese carmakers out ahead of Trump’s planned May summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Photo Courtesy: Ivan Marc on Shutterstock.com
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