Mercedes is in talks with the US to avoid being barred from the American market
The cross-party bill, tabled by Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Bernie Moreno of Ohio, would ban car manufacturers from selling vehicles if more than 15 per cent of their share capital is held by Chinese entities
For months, the Chinese have been buying fewer and fewer cars from German manufacturers, and now they are threatening to halt Mercedes sales in the US as well. So much so that the Stuttgart-based group is trying to water down a proposed law that would ban the company from operating in the United States because of its partial shareholding in China.
The cross-party bill, introduced in the Senate in April by Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Bernie Moreno of Ohio, would ban the sale of connected vehicles by car manufacturers in which Chinese entities hold more than a 15 per cent stake. This threshold would include Mercedes, which has nearly 20 per cent Chinese ownership.
Changes to the rules
According to Bloomberg, Mercedes is seeking to have the draft legislation amended to raise the permitted threshold for Chinese ownership to 25 per cent. This threshold would match the ownership limit that the bill would impose on other companies, such as suppliers of components or connectivity software. Lawmakers are also considering replacing a numerical threshold with a more qualitative criterion that assesses potential risks to national security. If approved, the proposal would likely be more favourable to the German car manufacturer than the current one.
The company stated in a press release that no single shareholder holds more than 10 per cent of its shares and that no shareholder has direct representation on the board of directors or authority over operational decisions. “Mercedes-Benz continues to support legislation aimed at protecting US national security. Mercedes-Benz also remains committed to ensuring that any legislation does not impact our business,” the company said in a statement.
Upcoming measures
The bill is due to be considered this week by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transport, which has postponed the hearing on the bill originally scheduled for last week. The debate on the scope of the bill has continued ahead of the hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
