Cybersecurity Policy Report, Annual Defense Bill Would Ban Chinese-Made Connected Cars From U.S. Military Bases, (Jul 14, 2025)
Connected vehicles from manufacturers headquartered in China and other adversarial foreign nations would be banned from operating on U.S. military bases under a provision included in the Senate’s fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, according to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D., Mich.).
Sen. Slotkin’s Protecting Military Bases from Connected Vehicles of Concern Act “has been successfully included in the Senate Armed Services Committee approved Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), marking a major win in protecting Americans’ national security, data privacy, and supply chains,” the senator said in a news release.
“This is about our national security and the significant data these vehicles collect, which can be sent back to the Chinese government,” she said. “One of my top priorities is to stop Chinese vehicles—now selling for roughly $20,000 in Europe and Mexico—from ever entering our market. This ban starts that process by ensuring we prevent them from setting foot in our defense facilities.”
Sen. Slotkin’s legislation would direct the Department of Defense to assemble a list of connected vehicles manufactured in China and other adversarial foreign nations and ban those vehicles from military bases. The ban would apply to cars with systems that communicate via wireless technology.
Sen. Slotkin introduced similar legislation last year when she was in the House, but that bill failed to advance (CPR, Sept. 4, 2024).
The Senate Armed Services Committee announced on Friday that it had approved its version of the NDAA but didn’t release the text of the bill, which is now ready for the Senate floor (CPR, July 11). Sen. Slotkin is ranking member of the committee’s emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee.
News: FederalLegislation DataSecurity