New rule would require GM, Ford to stop imports of cars they make in China: Report

General Motors and Ford Motor will need to halt import of vehicles to the US from China, as per a proposed rule clamping down on Chinese hardware and software, a US Commerce Department official informed Reuters on Monday. 

The rule would also impact other auto companies that sell or manufacture vehicles in the United States, of the likes of BYD and Volvo Cars, Reuters noted. 

GM sells the Buick Envision and Ford sells the Lincoln Nautilus in the US market, both of which are assembled in China.  Reuters could not elicit a response from Ford. The newswire further noted that in the first six months of this year, GM sold around 22,000 Envisions and Ford sold 17,500 Nautilus SUVs in the United States. 

Liz Cannon, head of the Commerce Department's information and communications technology office said that they "anticipate at this point that any vehicle that is manufactured in China and sold in the US would fall within the prohibitions." 

She further noted that both Ford and GM were aware that "going forward" production in China for the US market would require to be "shut down in China and moved elsewhere." 

While GM did not clarify whether it would have to stop the sales of Envision, it added that "the government has an important role to set clear policies" on security issues. 

China's BYD North America, a part of BYD that makes electric buses in Lancaster, California, could be affected. The firm did not offer a timely response to the newswire. 

"They will have to come in for a specific authorisation," Cannon noted. 

For instance, software could likely be prohibited if it were done by a group of Chinese employees in that country for a Chinese automaker. However, the same could be developed by Chinese employees working in another country for a non Chinese firm, the newswire noted. 

Reuters reported that Volvo Cars was "reviewing the proposal from the US Commerce Department" and assessing any viable impact it could have on the company and the auto industry.