Chinese-brand cars now account for one in 10 new cars sold in Europe, but you won’t find a BYD or Xiaomi on sale in the US, and one Ohio senator is determined to maintain that situation. He wants to make absolutely sure Chinese car brands never make it to America in the form of auto imports, partnerships, or even just lines of code buried in software.

Senator Bernie Moreno is preparing legislation that goes beyond the current restrictions introduced in early 2025 by the Biden administration. Those rules already shut out Chinese passenger cars over concerns they could harvest sensitive driver data. Moreno’s proposal aims to slam every remaining door, then double lock them just in case.

More: Toyota Is Selling A New EV In China For Less Than A 15-Year-Old Used Corolla

Speaking at an automotive event ahead of the New York International Auto Show, he didn’t exactly hold back, as Reuters reported.

“We don’t allow Huawei to come into our telecommunications infrastructure,” Moreno said, referencing the US block on the Asian tech giant. “We’re not going to allow Chinese automakers into this market. We’re going to prevent the cancer from coming into our market, and we’re going to need the other countries to do chemotherapy.”

Appealing To Other Nations

Subtle? Not exactly. Effective at grabbing attention? Absolutely. The plan isn’t just about imports. Moreno wants to block anything with Chinese ties, including software integrations and joint ventures. In other words, even a hint of Chinese involvement could be enough to disqualify a vehicle from US roads under his vision. He also hopes Mexico, Latin America, Canada and even Europe will follow suit.

Unsurprisingly, American automakers and industry groups are on board. They’ve been lobbying hard to keep the barriers high, arguing it protects both national security and domestic jobs. It also conveniently keeps a wave of competitively priced EVs from shaking up the market.

An Attack On Fair Trade

China, for its part, isn’t thrilled. Officials have pushed back, calling the approach protectionist and accusing the US of stacking the deck against fair competition. That tension adds another layer to an already delicate economic relationship between the two countries.

And there’s an added complication here. Donald Trump has previously said he’d welcome Chinese automakers building factories in the US, as long as they hire American workers.

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Update: There’s now video of the Houston Cybertruck crash. Footage shared by Hilliard Law, which represents the woman in the lawsuit, shows the electric truck, reportedly operating in self-driving mode, failing to follow a right-hand curve and continuing straight toward an overpass barrier. The driver attempts to intervene, but it is already too late, and the impact is severe. She is now suing Tesla for $1 million, alleging the system did not perform as promised.

'TERRIFYING': Dashcam video shows the moment a Tesla Cybertruck, allegedly operating in self-driving mode, nearly sent a Houston mom and her infant off a bridge before violently crashing into an overpass barrier.

The woman claims she suffered multiple injuries from the incident… pic.twitter.com/DgcnHp2FtZ

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 17, 2026

Tesla’s Full-Self Driving (Supervised) system has placed advanced semi-autonomous capability in the hands of thousands of owners across the United States. The technology remains one of the most closely watched developments in the industry. Yet despite its promise, the system is still far from flawless, and according to a recent lawsuit filed against Tesla, it can also be dangerous.

The suit, filed in Harris County Court in Houston, Texas, alleges that Tesla Cybertruck owner Justine Saint Amour was using the FSD system in August last year while traveling along the 69 Eastex Freeway. As the electric pickup approached a Y-shaped junction near the Houston Metro 256 Eastex Park & Ride, the vehicle’s onboard systems should have followed the right-hand curve of the freeway.

FSD Navigation Error Alleged

Instead, the lawsuit claims the Tesla attempted to continue straight ahead toward a concrete barrier. The driver reportedly took control just before impact but was unable to avoid the obstacle, with the Cybertruck striking the barrier head-on. A 1-year-old child was also in the back seat at the time but was not injured.

Read: Tesla On FSD Suddenly Swerves And Crashes Into A Tree, Claims Driver

The impact reportedly left the woman with two herniated discs in her lower back, a herniated disc in her neck, sprained wrist tendons, and neuropathy. Chron reports that dashcam footage captured the crash, showing the Cybertruck attempting to negotiate the curve at the interchange but ultimately hitting the barriers.

Camera Only System Criticized

An image taken after the crash shows that the front of the blacked-out Cybertruck took a serious hit, and that the front bumper shattered, leaving pieces of bodywork strewn across the road.

The lawsuit further alleges that Tesla’s decision to rely exclusively on a camera-based system for its self-driving technology, rather than incorporating radar or LiDAR sensors, contributed to the crash. It also claims Elon Musk is “an aggressive and irresponsible salesman” with a history of “making dangerous design choices.”

“Tesla’s decisions made Justine’s accident inevitable,” Saint Amour’s lawyer, Bob Hilliard, told Chron. “This company wants drivers to believe and trust their life on a lie: that the vehicle can self-drive and that it can do so safely. It can’t, and it doesn’t.”

The lawsuit accuses Tesla of negligence and seeks more than $1 million in damages.