DETROIT – As President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, U.S. politicians as well as the global auto industry warned that allowing Chinese automakers into the market could be Pandora’s box.
Trump earlier this month said he could “OK” letting Chinese automakers into the U.S. if they produce vehicles domestically, leading a consortium of auto trade groups representing every major aspect of the American auto industry to urge him to rethink his position.
It is an uncharacteristically unified message from automakers operating in the US, franchise dealers and suppliers. More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers followed the push with letters of their own, urging Trump to keep U.S. bans on Chinese automakers in place.
“It’s not at this point a partisan issue,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., told reporters Wednesday. “It’s about whether we want to make cars in America and whether we want a manufacturing base that can pivot when we need it. If we want it, we shouldn’t let people in our country.”
Trump is scheduled to host Xi and a delegation from China on Thursday and Friday that reportedly could include Wang Chuanfu, founder of BYD, China’s largest automaker, and Robin Zeng, founder of CATL, the world’s top battery maker for electric vehicles.
Michael Dunne, an expert on China’s automotive industry and ex General Motors executive, said even the potential that two executives could attend underscores the importance of Xi’s trip to the US auto industry.
GM CEO Mary Barra is also expected to be among the attendees at Trump’s state dinner for Xi, Reuters reported Wednesday, along with several other US executives, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
For America’s other largest automakers, Ford Motor District declined to reveal whether CEO Jim Farley would attend after the Department of Transportation criticized the company for its Chinese ties, including its licensing deal with CATL. Reuters reported Chrysler parent Star said CEO Antonio Filosa is out of the country and is not planning to attend.
Industry insiders and onlookers have expressed concerns similar to those raised by automakers and lawmakers as a bipartisan bill to ban Chinese automakers from the United States moves through Congress.
The pressure campaign comes as the Chinese automaker has been expanding rapidly outside its domestic market, particularly into Europe and Central and South America. There are fears among global automakers that Chinese rivals, such as BYD and Geely, which are heavily subsidized by their government, could flood the global market, driving down domestic production and vehicle prices.
Dunne said he doesn’t believe the concerns are overblown. He said that Chinese automakers will “quickly overwhelm the American auto industry, just as they are destroying Europe.”
The global market share for Chinese brands will increase by almost 70% from 2020 to 2025, according to market research and consulting firm GlobalData. The carmaker’s market share in Europe was almost nonexistent in 2020 but reached 12% in August, according to Germany-based Dataforce.
“Scores of Chinese autos are now engaged in a price war at home,” Dunne wrote in a Monday post. “There is red ink everywhere. Access to the US, the most profitable car market in the world, is like an oxygen tank that saves lives.”
‘very offensive’
Over the centuries, China has been one of the largest and fastest growing markets in the world. Non-Chinese automakers are entering the historically closed country with hopes of big sales and profits.
But after years of success for automakers such as GM, China’s automotive sector is rapidly changing from an insular industry to the world’s largest exporter of vehicles.
China’s growth has been fueled by government funding for companies as well as the country’s culture of innovation and speed that has been instilled in workers, experts say. The decision to expand exports has come about because of the slow Chinese market and low plant utilization.
A BYD Sealion 6 DM-i on display during the Busan International Mobility Show 2026 in South Korea, June 27, 2026.
Sopa Picture | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Christian Meunier, chairman of Nissan Motor America, described competing with the Chinese automaker as a “hell of challenges” in countries outside the US
“They had a great product but it was all thrown away,” he told CNBC in a recent interview. “We know we’re not competing [automakers]we compete with the government. … He attacked aggressively.”
Meunier said Japanese automakers have been trying to fight the Chinese as best they can on a global scale to cut costs and become more efficient.
“We have to prepare for the day when he comes to the US because it will happen one day. Hopefully not tomorrow, but it will happen one day,” he said.
Dunne said China’s ambitions and way of doing business are so different from those of its US allies that it is different from imports from Japan, South Korea and other countries.
“As Xi Jinping has often mentioned, the goal for China is to ‘make other countries more dependent on China and China less dependent on other countries.’ This is not a friendly posture,” Dunne said.
– CNBC’s Justin Pope contributed to this report.