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

Derek Wallbank, Bloomberg News on Sep 11, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump suggested he might be willing to allow a Chinese car company to build electric vehicles in the U.S. if it did so with American workers, while pledging to maintain the effective U.S. 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 U.S. “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 wasn’t the case the U.S. automobile market would be “overrun.”

“Now, if China wanted to come in, and open a plant to build their cars here, I’d be OK 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 Co. and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. are rapidly gaining global market share. They’re also appearing in Canada and Mexico, amplifying concerns among U.S. auto executives that they could soon seek inroads in America.

Currently, Chinese vehicles are essentially shut out of the U.S. market by steep tariffs and a Commerce Department ban on national security grounds that covers so-called connected vehicle systems from U.S. 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 U.S., saying “let China come in.”

Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley and Trump Cabinet members earlier this year 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.

(Josh Wingrove contributed to this report.)