Chinese Connected Vehicle Import Authorizations Coming in 'Near Future,' Officials Say
The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to soon issue general authorizations for certain Chinese connected vehicle imports, which could offer exemptions for small-scale manufacturers or companies importing items for testing, research or repair, Commerce Department officials said.
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The agency is “actively working to issue” them “in the near future,” said one official, speaking on the condition of anonymity as part of a policy for career officials at the BIS annual update conference last week. The official said BIS doesn’t yet have a “timeline,” but said they will look similar to the authorizations the agency previewed in its connected vehicle proposed rule last year (see 2409220001).
BIS considered publishing some of those general authorizations in its January final rule (see 2501140007), the Commerce official said, but the agency held off after realizing they needed to be fine-tuned. One authorization would have applied to auto manufacturers that make fewer than 1,000 vehicles annually, while others would have applied for connected vehicles that mostly aren't on public roads, for items imported for repair or alteration, and more.
“We decided we would actually be a little bit more effective to issue those one-off after the rule and not build them into the rule itself,” the Commerce official said. “That way I think as we learn and grow with industry in this rulemaking, if we need to amend or modify some of those general authorizations and work with industry, we could do those a little bit more rapidly by issuing them directly.”
The official stressed that the upcoming general authorizations, which will allow companies to import items under certain conditions without seeking specific permission from BIS, may look slightly different than the ones BIS proposed last year. The agency may also publish additional authorizations that weren’t in the proposed rule.
“We know out there that there's going to be certain transactions or business arrangements that really don't present as severe of a national security risk,” the official said. “We don't want to burden ourselves just as much as we don’t want to burden industry to go through a lengthy [authorization] process” for “certain transactions that are not really exacerbating national security risks.”
Commerce officials also offered insight into how they will make decisions for companies that apply for a specific authorization to import restricted connected vehicles or related software and hardware. The agency is expecting companies to submit extensive “background information” on the imported items and components, such as how they’re tied to Chinese or Russian entities or to Chinese-made or Russian-made parts.
“The level of detail in explaining that nexus, I think, will greatly help how quickly we'll be able to review applications and help us make a decision,” one official said.
BIS also wants importers to explain the types of “internal controls” they have in place to “mitigate and manage different types of technology risk for items that come from” China or Russia, the official said.
“We imagine all sorts of companies have a variety of internal processes, whether those are software development cycles or hardware testing and certifications,” the official said. “We just want to know it and understand it, and we can take that into consideration with our application.”
The person also stressed that specific authorizations will be examined under “a case-by-case review,” adding that it’s unclear how many BIS will approve.
“We understand that no two companies are alike,” the official said. “So we will look at each company with a unique lens, and we will likely have follow-up questions.”