A worker inspects a vehicle’s charging system in Hefei, China, on Jan. 17, 2025. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Three Democratic senators are calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to prevent Chinese cars made in Canada or Mexico from entering the United States, citing economic and national security concerns.
Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York wrote a letter to Trump on April 2, urging the president to make it clear that the manufacture, sale, or operation of Chinese vehicles on U.S. soil is “nonnegotiable.”
“We ask that your Administration take further action to prohibit Chinese vehicles manufactured or titled in Canada and Mexico from entering the United States and work with our allies around the world to address the serious threat posed by Chinese vehicles,” the senators wrote, noting that they are also concerned the White House could allow the manufacture of Chinese autos stateside.
They cited comments made by Trump to the Detroit Economic Club in January during which the president said he would be open to Chinese automakers building U.S. factories. “If they want to come in and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbours, that’s great, I love that,” he said at the time.
The senators described such a scenario as a major national security concern. Addressing the letter, the White House said in a media statement that “while the administration is always working to secure more investment into America’s industrial resurgence, any notion that we would ever compromise our national security to do so is baseless and false.”
Chinese automobiles have faced 100 percent tariffs in the United States since 2024. The U.S. administration under former President Joe Biden also enacted extensive regulations last January that effectively prohibit Chinese automakers from selling passenger vehicles in the United States, citing national security concerns related to the ability of such vehicles to gather information.
Similar concerns have been raised in Canada about the deal Prime Minister Mark Carney signed with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Jan. 16.
Carney agreed to cut the 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) to 6.1 percent, allowing 49,000 cars into Canada in 2026, rising to 70,000 annually by 2030. China agreed to lower tariffs on Canadian canola and other agricultural products in exchange.
Ottawa’s deal with Beijing on Chinese EVs has been criticized extensively by Conservative MPs and China experts, as well as by the U.S. administration.
Trump said in a Jan. 25 post on Truth Social that Canada is “systematically destroying itself” with the China deal.
“The China deal is a disaster for them. Will go down as one of the worst deals, of any kind, in history,” Trump said, while U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the deal could jeopardize the upcoming review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The senators’ letter was also critical of the deal Carney forged with China.
They noted that Canada initially followed the U.S. lead by placing a 100 percent tariff on Chinese vehicles in 2024 “to preserve our intertwined auto manufacturing sectors.”
“Now, that shared vision is in jeopardy and demonstrates Canada’s perception that its interests are no longer aligned with the United States – its closest ally and trading partner,” the senators wrote. “While Chinese EVs only represent 3% of the Canadian domestic market, this warning sign is critical to address.”
Stellantis Deal
The senators’ letter comes as Stellantis is reportedly exploring the possibility of building Chinese EVs at its stalled plant in Brampton, Ont., in collaboration with Chinese automaker Leapmotor.
The deal between Stellantis and its Chinese partner, Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co., remains in the early stages, according to an April 1 Bloomberg report, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Stellantis acquired a roughly 21 percent stake in the Chinese company Leapmotor in 2023 and the two automakers later formed a joint venture, Leapmotor International, to expand production outside China, with Stellantis holding a 51 percent stake.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said any deal bringing Chinese vehicles to Brampton is “unacceptable” and would undermine Ontario autoworkers. He told CBC the deal could involve the use of kits that would see the cars largely built in China and then shipped overseas for final assembly in Ontario.
“We can’t have cheap Chinese parts and kits coming over to be assembled” at the Brampton plant, he said. “We’re dead against this.”
Production at the Brampton facility was temporarily paused in 2024 to enable Stellantis to update its assembly line for the production of the next generation of the Jeep Compass, but work was halted in February 2025 following the announcement of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods.
The new electric SUV was originally scheduled to hit production lines in the Brampton plant late last year, but the company announced in the fall a plan to shift production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois, as part of a US$13 billion investment in the company’s manufacturing operations south of the border. The move impacted some 3,000 jobs in Brampton.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly told reporters last week that Stellantis needs to ensure there are proper labour standards and conditions for workers and that all production in Brampton supports the local supply chain before resuming operations at the plant.
Stellantis must also ensure vehicle software is secure, Joly said, noting that is key for the company to meet its obligations under the USMCA.
“We can’t bring cars in a kit to Canada,” Joly said during an unrelated April 2 press conference. “Why? Because one of the big parts of our auto industry is actually linked to the fact that we have a big auto parts sector–200,000 workers–and we have the three biggest companies in the world in auto parts.”
The deal forged between Ottawa and Beijing would drive “considerable new Chinese joint-venture investment in Canada with trusted partners” within three years, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a January statement. It said more than half of the vehicles would be “affordable” EVs with a price of less than $35,000.
Carney said the deal “has created massive opportunities” for both countries but told reporters during a Jan. 25 press scrum that the agreement is not meant to be a free trade deal.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc made similar comments in a Jan. 24 statement that the EV agreement with China was intended to resolve “several important tariff issues” but was not meant to open a door to a free-trade agreement.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has strongly opposed the importation of Chinese EVs into Canada, advocating for a protectionist stance to secure Canadian jobs and align with U.S. trade policy. He has also described Chinese EVs as a “roving surveillance” risk that threatens Canada’s national security.
The Tory leader recently told the popular podcast The Diary of a CEO that the Chinese Communist Party could become a major threat to both Canada and the world.
He told podcast host Steven Bartlett that should China choose to take “a very aggressive, bellicose approach—using technology for espionage, interference in foreign countries, as they have done in Canada, invading Taiwan—then China and Beijing, in particular, the regime, could become the biggest risk and threat to our country and our world.”