Trump says open to China building cars in US as Xi visit looms

• US President Donald Trump is open to Chinese car companies building electric vehicles in the US if they hire American workers, but opposes importing Chinese cars directly.
• Trump emphasised maintaining the US ban on Chinese vehicle imports due to security concerns and fears of market flooding.
• Discussions between US officials and automakers have explored ways to allow Chinese manufacturing in the US while protecting domestic industry, with no decisions yet made.

US President Donald Trump suggested he might be willing to allow a Chinese car company to build electric vehicles in the US if it did so with American workers, while pledging to maintain the effective US ban on imported vehicles from China.

Trump, speaking in a Fox News interview, rejected the suggestion that he would allow Chinese cars to be imported into the US.

“We don’t allow his cars into the United States, and we never did,” Trump said, referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, adding that if that was not the case the US automobile market would be “overrun”. 

“Now, if China wanted to come in, and open a plant to build their cars here, I’d be okay with it – Japan does it – but they hire our people,” Trump said. “The big thing is they hire our people, they use our people.”

“What I don’t want is them to build in Mexico and just, you know, build it inexpensively and ship it across the border,” he said. “That’s un-happening.”

Cheap, tech-laden Chinese EVs from companies like BYD and Geely Automobile Holdings are rapidly gaining global market share. They are also appearing in both Canada and Mexico, amplifying concerns among US auto executives that they could soon seek inroads in America.

Currently, Chinese vehicles are essentially shut out of the US market by steep tariffs and a Commerce Department ban on national security grounds that covers so-called connected vehicle systems from US adversaries including China. 

Trump’s comments come weeks before a planned summit with Xi in Washington, though he has made similar remarks before. 

In a January speech at the Detroit Economic Club, in the heartland of the American motor vehicle industry, Trump indicated he would be open to allowing Chinese automakers to build cars in the US, saying “let China come in”.

Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley and Trump Cabinet members earlier in 2026 held a preliminary informal discussion about how a potential framework might work in which Chinese automakers could build cars in America while offering some protection for domestic companies.

No decisions were made at the time on the matter, according to people familiar with the discussions. BLOOMBERG