Trump warned over China autos in U.S.

As President Donald Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, lawmakers in both parties are warning the White House not to use the U.S. auto market as a bargaining chip in any deal with Beijing.

The warning stems in part from Trump’s January suggestion that he could welcome Chinese automakers if they built vehicles in the U.S. with American workers — remarks that were later walked back but still rattled auto-state lawmakers, unions and industry groups. Trump in January in an appearance at the Detroit Economic Club said he would happily welcome Chinese automakers to manufacture in the U.S.

“While the Administration is always seeking more investment into America’s industrial resurgence, any notion that we would ever compromise our national security is baseless and false,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in an email.

For lawmakers in auto-heavy battleground states like Michigan and Ohio, even a limited opening for China could be politically explosive. They warn that if heavily subsidized Chinese automakers gain a foothold in the U.S. market, it could threaten domestic manufacturing jobs in states central to the 2026 midterm elections and the next presidential race.

“If your state is in the Rust Belt, letting Chinese automakers into the U.S. market would be detrimental and politically bad for many people,” said Stephen Ezell, a vice president at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington think tank focused on industrial competitiveness that has studied Chinese automakers. “You’re talking about risks to industry, jobs, factories and whole communities.”

So far, Democrats have pitched the fight over Chinese autos as critical to protecting union jobs and domestic production, while Republicans are casting it as part of a broader economic nationalism push to counter Beijing and protect critical industries.

Major Chinese automakers such as BYD, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and SAIC Motor, don’t have a retail presence in the U.S., where they face 100% tariffs and other national security-related barriers.

But walling off the U.S. market is complicated by China’s existing footprint in the U.S. auto supply chain.

More than 60 U.S.-based auto suppliers are owned by companies in China, according to global consulting firm AlixPartners. That includes makers of axles, airbags, windshields and steering systems. Chinese companies also hold stakes in about 5% of roughly 10,000 U.S. auto suppliers, according to AlixPartners.

The links extend into some of the best-known vehicles sold in the U.S., as tracked by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Toyota’s newest Prius plug-in hybrid contains about 15% Chinese parts. Ford’s latest Mustang GT uses six-speed manual transmissions sourced from China. General Motors, despite backing hawkish trade policies, has reported that…