Shares of Ford, General Motors and Stellantis closed lower on Wednesday after U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin said President Donald Trump may ease restrictions on Chinese cars entering the U.S. market as part of an agreement tied to an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Slotkin, a Democratic senator from Michigan, wrote on X that Trump could soon welcome Xi in Washington and that "we are hearing rumors" Trump plans to allow Chinese cars to be sold in the United States as part of the deal he is preparing. She called the idea an "irreversible strategic mistake" and said it would directly threaten more than 1.2 million auto-related jobs in Michigan while damaging U.S. manufacturing capacity more broadly.
She did not disclose the source of the information. The White House has not released any plan to loosen auto trade barriers.
Automaker shares fell after the post
The reaction in U.S. auto stocks was immediate. Ford (F) fell 3.93%, General Motors (GM) dropped 2.37%, and Stellantis (STLA) lost 1.86%.
The rumor appeared favorable on the surface for Chinese carmakers, but Hong Kong-listed automakers also moved lower. BYD (1211) fell more than 3% at one point to HK$79.3, a recent low, while Geely (175) also dropped more than 3% and touched HK$16.03. That price action suggested investors were also questioning the credibility of the claim.
Xi’s U.S. visit is expected to begin on Sept. 24
Xi is expected to depart for a state visit to the United States on Sept. 24 and will be received in Washington by the White House, according to the report. Foreign media also said Xi is expected to travel with a large business delegation.
The meeting would follow the outcome of the Trump-Xi talks held in Beijing in May. China had pledged to buy at least $17 billion of U.S. agricultural products each year from 2026 to 2028, on top of a separate commitment made after the Busan meeting in October last year to purchase 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually. China also agreed to buy 200 Boeing aircraft and address supply issues involving rare earth materials including yttrium, scandium, neodymium and indium. The two sides also set up a trade committee and an investment committee, while their tariff truce was extended to November.
Still, no U.S. announcement has mentioned tariff reductions. Chinese EV imports remain subject to a 100% tariff, leaving open the question of whether vehicle trade barriers will be discussed or changed during the coming meeting.
Duffy’s letter to Ford pointed the other way
The report also noted a sharp contradiction in Washington’s signals. In the same week the rumor spread, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter on Tuesday to Ford CEO Jim Farley criticizing the company’s links to Chinese firms.
Duffy pointed to Ford’s battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, which uses technology licensed from CATL, the company’s cooperation with Geely in Spain to produce low-emission vehicles, and reports that Ford has been discussing hybrid components with BYD. He accused Ford of "voluntarily tying its future deeply to Chinese state-backed companies" and urged the company to cut those ties.
Ford pushed back quickly. The automaker said the letter was a mistaken attempt to grab headlines "at the expense of a company that has contributed far more to American manufacturing than its peers." Ford said the Marshall battery plant represents a multibillion-dollar investment and around 1,700 U.S. jobs. It added that its arrangement with CATL is a limited technology licensing and services agreement, not a joint venture or foreign-owned manufacturing operation, and that the plant, operations and workforce remain under Ford’s control. Ford also said the letter contained factual errors.
Congress is also moving on restrictions
Current connected-vehicle rules already effectively block vehicles containing Chinese software or hardware from entering the U.S. market, according to the report. Slotkin and Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno have also jointly introduced the Connected Vehicle Safety Act, which passed the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously in July.
Auto industry groups on Sept. 8 also publicly urged Congress to complete the legislation quickly in order to directly block Chinese vehicles.
That leaves two conflicting signals on the table at once: a report that Trump may soften restrictions in talks with Xi, and continued pressure from hawkish voices in the administration and Congress to tighten them instead.