WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, introducing her first bill since winning election to the Senate in November, proposed a measure Thursday aimed at preventing Chinese vehicles from entering the United States.

The bill, titled the Connected Vehicle National Security Review Act, would formally establish a national security review process for imports of internet-connected vehicles and components made by companies from China or other countries of concern.

"I will lay down on the border to keep Chinese vehicles from entering the U.S. market. This is my first bill I’m introducing in the Senate, and it’s for a reason," Slotkin, a Holly Democrat, said in a statement.

The move comes amid simmering concerns from national security hawks that sophisticated Chinese technology in increasingly software-heavy consumer vehicles could pose a risk to Americans. Michigan's junior senator has made the topic a focus of her time in Washington.

Slotkin, also a former Central Intelligence Agency officer and Pentagon official, introduced a similar bill as a member of the U.S. House in 2024. She has also been active on the issue of Chinese vehicles and investment through other proposals.

"Chinese vehicles could collect huge amounts of data on America and Americans, which poses a significant national security threat. Americans' personal data, our infrastructure, Michigan’s auto industry and auto jobs are all at stake," Slotkin said.

She continued: "Chinese vehicles, which are dirt cheap thanks to state subsidies, could collect full motion video of sensitive sites, 3-D mapping, and geolocation of individual drivers — all of which could be sent back to Beijing. Despite the polarization in Washington right now, protecting U.S. citizens should be nonpartisan, and I look forward to working in a bipartisan fashion to pass this legislation into law.”

Slotkin's bill would codify parts of executive actions from the Trump and Biden administrations that directed the Commerce Department to investigate national security threats from Chinese products.

It also, according to Slotkin's office, aims to cement and expand upon a Commerce Department rule finalized in January that banned the import and sale of passenger vehicles containing internet-connected technology from companies in China with ties to the Chinese government.

Vehicles from Chinese brands like BYD Co. and SAIC Motor are not available for sale in the United States, though several brands with U.S. operations import cars and trucks from China. Ford Motor Co., for example, manufactures the Lincoln Nautilus in China.

Slotkin's office said products from American companies are not the focus of the bill, but rather goods from Chinese companies with ties to the country's government.

The bill also codifies the Commerce Department's authority to review — and potentially block — any sale, importation, or other transaction from a Chinese company operating in third-party countries like Mexico.

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