Auto Industry Tells Trump: Keep Chinese Automakers Out of the U.S.

Six U.S. automotive trade associations — representing every major automaker operating in the country, including Tesla, plus roughly 17,000 franchised dealers — have asked President Donald Trump to maintain policies that keep Chinese automakers out of the American market, or ban them outright.

The letter, dated Thursday and viewed by CNBC, urges the president to "maintain policies that keep the door firmly shut to Chinese automakers seeking to sell, import or manufacture vehicles inside the U.S."

The industry's intervention lands days before Trump's expected meeting next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. It also follows the president's own signal, delivered Sept. 11 on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle," that he would welcome Chinese manufacturing on American soil.

"If China wanted to come in and open a plant to build their cars here, I'd be OK with it," Trump said.

Why the industry is pushing back now

The letter frames the automotive sector as a strategic asset, not just a commercial one. "The automotive sector is foundational to our advanced manufacturing and defense base, with the capacity and workforce to respond during a national emergency. Once that base is hollowed out, it can't be rebuilt overnight," the letter reads.

The coalition argues that letting Chinese automakers build vehicles inside the U.S. would "undermine fair competition and jeopardize the progress" the administration has made in preventing "Chinese dominance in key industries." Chinese automakers, the letter notes, are heavily subsidized by their government and are rapidly expanding beyond China into other countries.

Who signed the letter?

The signatories represent a broader coalition than previous industry appeals to the Trump administration. The letter was signed by leaders of six trade associations covering:

• Franchised dealers — roughly 17,000 nationwide;
• Automotive suppliers;
• Domestic automakers;
• Foreign automakers operating in the U.S., including Tesla.

According to CNBC, the letter is the latest in a string of messages from the automotive industry to the administration, but this version marks a more unified coalition than earlier efforts — a signal that Detroit, foreign transplants and dealers are aligned on the China question despite their frequent disagreements on tariffs and emissions policy.

What does the letter change?

The direct impact on policy remains uncertain. The letter carries no legal force, and Trump's Sept. 11 comments suggest he is at least open to the scenario the industry wants to foreclose. The timing, however, gives the coalition leverage: it arrives just as the administration prepares for high-stakes talks with Xi, when trade concessions — including market access for Chinese vehicles — could be on the table.

The unified front also raises the political cost of any deal that would let Chinese automakers manufacture in the U.S., because the administration would have to overrule the very domestic manufacturers and dealers it has championed through tariff policy. How Trump reconciles that tension with Xi in Washington next week will signal whether Chinese car plants on American soil move from hypothetical to negotiating chip.