Biden administration finalizes ban on Chinese, Russian tech in passenger cars
President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration finalized rules Tuesday, Jan. 14 to ban the sale and import of Chinese and Russian tech in connected passenger vehicles. The move is Biden’s last push to address national security concerns tied to the auto industry.
The Commerce Department said the systems from those foreign adversaries pose unacceptably high risks and open the door to spying or interference.
The features include components that connect vehicles to the outside world, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as well as self-driving systems. The software bans start with 2027 model year cars, while for hardware, it begins with 2030 model year cars.
General Motors and Ford build some vehicles in China, including the Buick Envision and the Lincoln Nautilus, which will be impacted by the new ruling.
Volvo also makes the S90 sedan in China, as well as sister brand Polestar with the Polestar 2 EV sedan.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation trade group, which represents several automakers, said the new rules are fair and acknowledged the risks of foreign tech.
The group’s CEO, John Bozzella, also said the timing of the rules going into effect a few years from now strikes a good balance because changing the “world’s most complex supply chain can’t happen overnight.”
The rule not only applies to the import and sale of Russian and Chinese-made cars but also to any cars that have Russian or Chinese technology in them, even if the cars are assembled or manufactured in the U.S.
The Commerce Department said it plans to create another rule for large vehicles like buses and trucks in the future, but it’s not clear exactly when that will happen.
The new rule comes as President Biden also signed an executive order to fast-track the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure, paving the way to lease federal land for companies that agree to build AI data centers. This goes along with new trade restrictions to curb the sale of AI chips from Nvidia and other data centers around the world.
While the incoming Trump administration could reverse some of Biden’s latest steps, Trump could keep some of the policies involving China, given there’s wide bipartisan agreement on national security risks.
This comes a year after GM grounded its fleet of driverless vehicles after an accident in California that led to Cruise being fined $1.5 million.
GM, which owns about 90% of Cruise, said it intends to buy the remainder of the company and will combine GM and Cruise technical teams. GM cited an “increasingly competitive robotaxi market” as one reason it will no longer fund the business.
Cruise founder Kyle Vogt, who left the company in 2023, reacted to the news on X saying, “In case it was unclear before, it is clear now: GM are a bunch of dummies.”
Driverless taxis are ready to hit the streets of Florida’s second-largest city. Waymo announced it will expand its services to Miami, offering transportation to riders starting in 2026.
A Waymo spokesperson said the company has been testing the vehicles’ driving performance since 2019. The service has run different trials through Miami’s wet and rainy climate, perfecting its ability to navigate changing weather patterns.
Waymo said it will operate in parts of Miami’s most populated areas.
Miami’s addition to Waymo’s roster comes after the company received a $5.6 billion investment. In October, Waymo closed on a funding order with plans to use the money toward the advancement of its services.
In November, sources revealed President-elect Donald Trump’s team was working on new legislation to ease restrictions currently in place for self-driving vehicles. If passed, it would allow manufacturers like Waymo to deploy more vehicles.
Waymo’s self-driving vehicles are already cruising the streets of San Francisco, Austin, Los Angeles and Phoenix. The company added Miami to the list as the market for robotaxis becomes more competitive.
Several companies, including Tesla, General Motors and Amazon, have also been testing self-driving services.
Waymo remains the only developer to offer autonomous ride-hailing taxis. According to the company, it’s seen more than 150,000 paid riders per week across its major metro areas.
Partnerships between vehicle financing company Moove and Uber have helped to keep Waymo ahead of the race.
Starting in 2025, Uber will take over fleet management of Waymo vehicles. Moove will be responsible for infrastructure in Phoenix starting early next year.
Billion-dollar proposal looks to demolish two towers in Detroit’s Renaissance Center
General Motors and real estate firm Bedrock announced on Monday, Nov. 25, a development plan that would permanently alter downtown Detroit. The proposal would demolish two buildings in Renaissance Center to transform the riverfront.
Renderings and newly released plans would reduce the number of office spaces and set the complex up for modernization. These iconic 39-story towers opened in 1976 and are Motor City’s most recognizable landmark. They later became GM’s headquarters in the late 90’s.
The $1.6 billion price tag would demolish two of the towers to create a mixed-use space, complete with housing and offices. They would then add a pedestrian promenade that connects the riverfront to the heart of the city and opens up access.
The automaker owns the complex but soon will set up shop in the core of downtown, a move the company announced back in 2021.
Bedrock is investing $1 billion toward the proposal while partnering with GM and Wayne County. They plan to turn the vacant property into what they said will “preserve most of the skyline and reduce the center’s office footprint.”
“Additionally our collaborative approach makes certain that the reimagined Renaissance Center and the riverfront further augment and support the city’s continued growth, benefiting the community and region at large.”
Bedrock statement by CEO Kofi Bonner
GM is putting forward $250 million toward the plan while looking for another $250 million from the public sector. This proposal hinges on approval from state and local leaders, relying on public funding to push the plan forward.
However, receiving financial support from lawmakers may prove to be a challenge. Last year, Democrats maintained control over the Michigan Legislature, but Republicans gained control of the state House.
Republican lawmakers have pushed back against using state incentives to fund corporate plans.
In a news conference, incoming Republican House Speaker Matt Hall said paying for demolition and development should fall on GM, not taxpayers.
“We will need a public/private partnership to get this done and avoid the decades of inaction that accompanied so many Detroit Landmarks, like Hudson’s, Michigan Central, AMC Headquarters and the Packard Plant.”
Statement from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan
Discussion around Michigan’s tallest skyscraper started in the wake of the pandemic that disrupted workplace models and sent many to do their jobs remotely.
51,400 people in Michigan work for GM despite 2024’s global layoffs by the company. These layoffs come as GM sees an increase in profits.
The 73-story central tower would remain in place, home to a Marriott Hotel. Instead, the top floors would become high-end family apartments, and the number of hotel rooms would decrease.
Demolition could start on the two office buildings within the next two years.
Trump’s proposed tariffs could violate his own trade deal with Canada and Mexico
Experts say President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to put 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada violates the trade agreement he negotiated during his first term. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA for short, fulfilled Trump’s 2015 campaign promise to terminate and replace NAFTA, America’s longstanding free-trade agreement with its neighbors.
Trump announced in a Truth Social post that on his first day as president, he’ll sign an executive order charging Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States.
“This tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” he posted.
“It is a violation of the USMCA. The U.S. just basically said, ‘Oops, we are going to impose these tariffs no matter what our treaty says,” said Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics specializing in U.S. trade flows and U.S.-China trade.
Lovely said Trump could try to unilaterally impose these proposed tariffs using the Emergency Powers Act.
“This would be a very unusual and certainly provocative application of that Emergency Powers Act,” she told Straight Arrow News. “Surely, it will go to the courts, but that seems to be the only route that he could do it given U.S. trade law in general and in particular, the promises we made under USMCA.”
Trump has no problem busting up trade agreements. It was a cornerstone of his candidacy that led to his first term, just as tariffs are for his second.
“It’s a disaster,” Trump said of NAFTA on “60 Minutes” in 2015. “We will renegotiate it or we will break it, because every agreement has an end.”
Is this the end of USMCA? Some are speculating that there is more behind Trump’s day-one tariff threat than meets the eye.
This constant threatening has a cost. It’s not a freebie.
Mary Lovely, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Trump supporter and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman cast doubt in an X post that Trump would even implement the threatened tariffs.
“@realdonaldtrump is going to use tariffs as a weapon to achieve economic and political outcomes which are in the best interest of America, fulfilling his America first policy,” Ackman posted.
“Trump sees an opening to push China further out of America’s backyard,” international relations expert Andrew Law wrote in his publication, The Mexico Brief. “This is less a policy declaration than a move to stir up more trouble amongst bickering allies. The goal? To extract even more concessions from Mexico and Canada on China. He’s throwing a cat amongst the pigeons to watch what happens. It’ll probably work.”
“It is a threat, obviously, and threats do get people to do things sometimes,” Lovely said. “The problem is that every time he threatens a trading partner, particularly free-trade-agreement partners, the rest of the world loses trust in the U.S. as a partner.
“Supply chains start to go around the U.S. rather than through the U.S., and that makes it more difficult for the companies in the U.S. that export,” she continued. “It also makes it more difficult for global companies that are trying to arrange supply chains to serve the United States. So this constant threatening has a cost. It’s not a freebie.”
In conjunction with tariffs on America’s neighbors, Trump also announced an additional 10% tariff on China related to the fentanyl crisis.
If the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada do go through, the question is, what will be impacted the most?
“Autos has to be number one,” Lovely said. “The U.S. auto industry is fully integrated with the industries in Mexico and Canada, so much that we don’t think about it as three industries; it’s one integrated platform. Some vehicles are said to go back and cross the border more than seven times before they hit car lots.”
On news of the threat, Detroit’s Big Three automakers traded down on Tuesday morning, Nov. 26. Ford started the day trading down 3%, GM went as far as 8% down, and Chrysler-owner Stellantis went down about 5%.
Food could also be set for a huge sticker shock. The guacamole is always extra, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture says Mexico provides about 90% of the avocados eaten in the U.S. More than half of all U.S. fresh fruit imports come from Mexico. On the northern border, oil is the top import from Canada.
The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with China, Mexico and Canada as its top suppliers, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. The U.S. is also the second-largest goods exporter after China. The top three recipients of U.S. exports are Canada, Mexico and China.
While the USMCA is not set to expire until 2036, there is a six-year review coming up in 2026. And China has more to do with North American trade than the acronym suggests.
“Many of us expect that the role of China in supply chains that serve the U.S. from Canada, but in particular, Mexico, would be on the table, would be an issue,” Lovely said. “Whether it is in this case I think is just speculation, since President-elect Trump said nothing about that in the social media post he made last night.”
F1 adding Cadillac as second American team for 2026 season
General Motors (GM) will officially make its debut in Formula One (F1) during the 2026 season. The marquee global racing series said Monday, Nov. 25, that it will allow a Cadillac F1 team run by GM to make its debut during 2026 testing.
GM has a long history in car racing. Chevrolets have taken NASCAR legends like Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson to victory lane. Oldsmobile, Chevy and GM’s retired brand, won 21 Indianapolis 500’s.
The announcement wraps up a years-long legal battle for Formula One and its owners Liberty Media. It also adds a second American racing team to F1.
U.S. racing legend Michael Andretti first launched the bid in partnership with GM. But after Liberty rejected his effort, it led to a Justice Department investigation into a potential violation of antitrust laws.
Andretti stepped aside from his company in September. His namesake company, Andretti Global, will operate the team for GM and Cadillac. Andretti’s father, former F1 and IndyCar champion Mario Andretti, will serve as the team board’s director.
GM President Mark Reuss celebrated the agreement.
“It’s an honor for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world’s premier racing series, and we’re committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world,” Reuss said.
The approval comes as Formula One has grown its presence in the U.S. in recent years. The announcement came just after the series held its second annual race along the Las Vegas Strip. The U.S. now hosts three annual F1 races, the most of any country.
Cadillac will become the second American F1 team. But the existing American-owned team, run by businessman Gene Haas, has struggled and does not employ any American drivers. Haas runs a successful NASCAR team, Stewart-Haas, with NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart.
For the first two seasons, the Cadillac team will rely on engines made by Italian sports car brand Ferrari. However, GM said it plans to have a Cadillac engine ready for the team to use starting in the 2028 season.
General Motors posted a stronger-than-expected profit in the third quarter of 2024, boosting its outlook for the full year. Despite challenges from last year’s United Auto Workers strike, GM’s revenue rose by more than 10%, and the company is on track to achieve record profits.
GM reported an adjusted profit of $3.4 billion for the third quarter, an increase from $3.2 billion in the same period in 2023.
The company’s revenue climbed to $48.8 billion, surpassing expectations by nearly $800 million. North American customers paid an average of nearly $50,000 per vehicle, highlighting a rise in average transaction prices.
GM’s strong earnings come in contrast to its performance in China, where the automaker lost $137 million in Q3, due to a 37% drop in sales.
Chinese competition has significantly impacted what was once GM’s largest market. In the electric vehicle space, GM captured 6.6% of the U.S. market in Q3, but Tesla still leads with 48.2% of EV sales.
With shares up over 40% in 2024, GM expects its full-year earnings to top last year’s record.
Disney vows to resolve Iger succession in 2026 as Gorman becomes board chair
Disney is inching closer to a future without Bob Iger at the helm, although it may take a little longer than expected. Now the entertainment and theme park juggernaut says it will name its new CEO in “early 2026.”
James Gorman will take over as the Disney board’s chairman on Jan. 2, 2025, the company also announced Monday, Oct. 21. Gorman will officially step away from his executive chairman role at Morgan Stanley at the end of 2024.
Gorman is taking over the board chair role from Mark Parker, who also serves as executive chairman at Nike, which has its own troubles and recently faced a CEO shakeup. Parker served as president and CEO of Nike from 2006 to 2020. The Disney board had even asked him to consider being interim CEO in 2022, but he declined, citing his Nike workload.
There are already many rumors surrounding which internal Disney candidates are leading the race to take over for Iger. The shortlist includes Dana Walden, the co-chair of Disney Entertainment; Alan Bergman, Walden’s co-chair; Josh D’Amaro, who is head of Disney Experiences, and Jimmy Pitaro, who runs ESPN. The Succession Planning Committee says it will still “review internal candidates and external candidates.”
Iger served as CEO of Disney from 2005 to 2020. He hand-picked Bob Chapek to be his successor, but after a series of missteps and weak performance, Disney fired Chapek in 2022. Iger returned to the company and the dysfunction of the succession process caught the attention of the media and investors.
Iger’s latest tenure as CEO is set to culminate at the end of 2026 when his contract expires.
Gorman took over the Succession Planning Committee in August. He served as CEO of Morgan Stanley from 2010 to 2023. He oversaw the succession process that led to Ted Pick becoming the bank’s CEO.
“This timing reflects the progress the Succession Planning Committee and the Board are making, and will allow ample time for a successful transition before the conclusion of Bob Iger’s contract,” Gorman said of the 2026 target.
The Disney succession committee will include Parker through the rest of the year, along with GM CEO Mary Barra and lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald.
GM and Hyundai join forces to lower costs, develop new vehicles
General Motors (GM) and Hyundai Motor Company have announced a partnership on Thursday, Sept. 12, aimed at making vehicles more affordable by improving supply chains and reducing production costs. The collaboration focuses on shared sourcing of key materials, including battery components for electric vehicles (EVs), as well as steel and other materials used in both electric and gas-powered models.
“GM and Hyundai have complementary strengths and talented teams,” GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra said. “Our goal is to unlock the scale and creativity of both companies to deliver even more competitive vehicles to customers faster and more efficiently.”
By pooling resources, the companies hope to achieve greater efficiencies, ultimately leading to lower prices for consumers. The partnership looks to help both automakers address rising material costs and challenges in EV production.
“This partnership will enable Hyundai Motor and GM to evaluate opportunities to enhance competitiveness in key markets and vehicle segments,” Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung said. “As well as drive cost efficiencies and provide stronger customer value through our combined expertise and innovative technologies.”
In addition to cost-saving measures, the two companies plan to collaborate on new vehicle development and clean energy technology, including potential advances in hydrogen-powered cars. GM and Hyundai have signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize the initial stages of their cooperation, with plans to implement more binding agreements in the future.
Volvo backtracks on EV pledge, as other automakers have done the same
Volvo has revised its plan to transition fully to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. The automaker now anticipates that between 90%-100% of its cars sold by the end of the decade will either be electric vehicles or hybrids, while up to 10% of sales will comprise of mild hybrids, where electric power supplements a combustion engine.
This shift reflects a broader trend among major automakers, including Tesla, General Motors, Ford, and Toyota, who have also recently scaled back their electric vehicle targets.
Volvo’s decision to reconsider its EV plans comes several months after CEO Jim Rowan had predicted “tremendous growth” in the EV market.
“We are resolute in our belief that our future is electric,” Rowan said in a statement about the company’s recent EV cutbacks. “However, it is clear that the transition to electrification will not be linear, and customers and markets are moving at different speeds.”
Volvo has also adjusted its short-term goals. Initially, the company aimed for fully electric vehicles to comprise at least 50% of its sales by 2025. The updated target now includes both EVs and hybrids, which together are expected to account for 50%-60% of sales.
The market responded swiftly to the news, with Volvo’s shares dropping by 7.5% on Friday, Sept. 6, following the announcement. Despite this, Volvo maintains that its revised strategy better aligns with current market dynamics and consumer preferences.