10
Auto Companies Call For Ban On Chinese-Made Cars (tech.slashdot.org)
submitted 4 weeks ago by to c/technology@midwest.social
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A group representing American automakers sent a letter (PDF) Thursday to congressional leaders asking for a "permanent ban" on Chinese-made cars in the U.S. John Bozzella, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation's CEO and president, described in the letter China's manufacturing industry as "rooted in a well-documented pattern of unfair trade, subsidies, intellectual property theft and surveillance." Bozzella addressed his request to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) -- urging them to back a "permanent ban on the sale, import and manufacture of Chinese connected vehicles," before the 119th Congress concludes in January

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[–] 11 points 4 weeks ago (8 children)

lol how about y'all actually make competitive cars people want to buy first?

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  • [–] 8 points 4 weeks ago (7 children)

    it's easier to bribe governments then it is to actually make something that isn't pure trash

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  • [–] 3 points 4 weeks ago (6 children)

    But but but non-chinese automakers aren't evil like China is and surely they won't shove their vehicles full of spyware crap!

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  • [–] 3 points 4 weeks ago (5 children)

    They are still evil but some are still better. Subaru has one of the better privacy policies, though still sucks. At least they don't sell your usage to insurance companies so far.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

    At least they don’t sell your usage to insurance companies so far.

    What a grim sentence

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  • [–] 4 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

    That's the state of our privacy laws or the lack of them. The talks of telemetry in cars are starting to be discussed in politics though I have low expectations on any positive outcome lol

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  • [–] 3 points 4 weeks ago* (2 children)

    I mean look of course I don't trust China blindly to sell me an electric car that doesn't have some kind of privacy invading aspect to it.. that is why you have good cybersecurity regulations with agencies focused on maintaining a high level of standards in domestic markets... but I ALSO sure as hell don't trust US or "western" automakers to not do equally evil shit with privacy invading crap and unlike China.... there is much more of an economic incentive to invade my privacy by domestic interests.

    I also for the record don't trust the US government or other "western" governments to properly penalize automakers for invading my privacy, to the point that even if it is "illegal" international corporations surely just see it as a minor cost of doing business.

    so shrugs my opinion is do better "western" car companies

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  • [–] 3 points 4 weeks ago (1 child)

    Yeah IMO if I had choice of US made car that sucks and has a ton of telemetry versus a Chinese car that is better but has telemetry and cheaper well why not get it and disable the telemetry lol.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 weeks ago*

    Also there is a frustrating lack of nuance here, if you are a US senator or maybe like an Admiral in the US navy maybe you shouldn't drive a modern foreign car... whatever that means (which itself is a question that needs to be reflected on critically, does it matter where the car is made vs. what open and inspectable standards it is built to?) but if you are an average person a foreign government gains virtually nothing by obessively surveilling you, whereas corporations and entities within the domestic sphere of influence of your country ABSOLUTELY do gain from it.... they are gaining from it this very moment by surveilling all of us.

    All this panic about Chinese electric cars is completely centered around the perspective of the first category of people... which isn't to say that this isn't bullshit anyways the computers that run internal combustion engine cars are MASSIVELY complicated with an absolutely UNFATHOMABLE amount of code, this idea that eletric cars are some "new" threat vector is insulting to the intelligence of human beings.

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    • [–] 4 points 4 weeks ago

    "Chinese-made". We had this exact conversation over 40 years ago. The result was Honda opening their factory in Marysville, OH. Under the laws at the time, cars manufactured at this factory were American-made, and not covered by any trade restrictions.

    Now you might be thinking they'll use a different definition, like company ownership. Except Chinese companies already own minority stakes in several western brands. And since companies can own other companies, or stakes in other companies, it's trivial to setup a chain of shell companies. Chinese brands can own a company in Sweden that owns a stake in (e.g) GM.

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