US Senate panel to vote on Chinese vehicle crackdown bill

The U.S.

Senate Commerce Committee is set to consider bipartisan legislation to toughen a U.S. government ban on Chinese automakers entering the American market, but some provisions remain under debate ahead of an expected vote Wednesday.

Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan proposed legislation in April to codify a regulation imposed by the Biden administration that effectively bans all Chinese automakers from selling passenger vehicles in the U.S. and takes other steps to prevent China from entering the U.S. light-duty market.

"We're preventing an absolute, total, and complete destruction of our industrial base," Moreno said in an interview.

"I think we landed a really good place... the bill has gone through many, many, many iterations of feedback." The bill would prohibit vehicle sales by automakers that are more than 15 percent owned by Chinese entities, which would apply to Mercedes-Benz, which has nearly 20 percent Chinese ownership.

Mercedes-Benz is lobbying to change the provision, U.S. lawmakers say.

Mercedes-Benz has not com ...