So here's a bit of policy continuity that might surprise some people watching the presidential transition. President Donald Trump's Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, has indicated that the administration isn't planning to undo the rules put in place by the previous administration that limit Chinese software and hardware in cars sold in the U.S. Those rules were a Biden thing, born from worries about the tech collecting sensitive data, but it looks like they're sticking around.

Why the Rules Are Staying Put

According to a Reuters report from Thursday, Greer shared that the rules aren't going anywhere. The hardware restrictions are set to kick in fully in 2029, while the software limits already started this past March. "It would probably be difficult for certain countries to establish new production here, given those sets of rules," Greer told the publication. He did note, however, that talking about the auto industry isn't the main item on the agenda for an upcoming meeting with President Xi Jinping's office.

This creates an interesting puzzle, especially for our neighbors to the north. When asked whether Canadian drivers would be able to take their Chinese-made electric vehicles across the border into the U.S., Greer said it wasn't clear how that situation "will be resolved." So, if you're in Canada thinking about buying one of those EVs, you might want to check if your road trip plans include a visit south of the border.

The Canadian Side of the Equation

Speaking of those Chinese-made EVs, Ottawa recently signed a trade agreement with China that opens the door for over 49,000 of them to enter the Canadian market at a 6.1% tariff rate. That number could potentially grow to 70,000 EVs down the line. Not everyone is thrilled about this. Canada's leader of the Official Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, has criticized the deal and instead rolled out a U.S.-focused auto industry strategy.

The move has also drawn fire from across the border. President Trump had previously called the Ottawa-Beijing deal one of the "worst" deals of all time and even threatened to slap 100% tariffs on Canada because of it. Despite the political noise, business moves forward. EV giant BYD Co. Ltd. (BYDDF) has registered its factories in Shenzhen and Xi'an provinces in China as potential exporters to Canada following the agreement.

Trump's ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, has been even more direct about the border issue. He stated that the administration wouldn't let Chinese-made EVs "cross the border into the U.S.," pointing to security and privacy concerns as the reason.

A Broader Tech Security Push

This auto industry news fits into a larger pattern of tension over Chinese technology. A bipartisan bill, pushed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), is making the rounds. Called the American Security Robotics Act, it seeks to ban the U.S. government from procuring "unmanned ground vehicles" and other tech, like physical AI and humanoid robots, from foreign adversaries, explicitly naming the Chinese Communist Party. It's another sign that, regardless of who's in the White House, there's a strong bipartisan consensus in Washington about keeping certain Chinese tech out of critical areas, whether it's in our cars or our government offices.