Transcript of Department of Commerce proposes a ban on foreign smart cars

And in tonight's Future of Everything, what if the cars we were driving turned against us? No, this is not leave the world behind or sky net scenario, but the US government seems so worried about security that they are right now proposing a ban on smart cars from China and Russia. And we're talking about cars with embedded software from foreign adversaries. And the Department of Commerce proposed a ban on the sale or import of smart cars that use specific Chinese or Russian technology because of national security concerns and everything from the possible collection of personal data to remote sabotage by hacking. Let's bring in business insider senior correspondent Ben Bergman to talk a little bit more about this proposed ban. Ben, thanks for being with us. I cannot think of a more fitting Trojan horse to use against America by an adversary than cars, which were invented here, and cell phones as well, for that matter. Is that the concern or is this more specific?

There's definitely a big concern concerned, and it's not hard to imagine all the things that could go wrong. However, there's not a single Russian technology right now in US cars. And in fact, I think most people will be surprised. There's very little Chinese technology as well. So I think the word here is preempted. The Biden administration just wants to do this before Joe Biden leaves office, and then maybe it'll be an issue down the road.

What tangible impact does this have on the car market here in the United States?

Not a lot right now. The association that represents US car manufacturers is in favor of this. They wanted to make sure there's enough time, and they feel there is since the hardware component doesn't go into effect until 2030. So it really won't have much of an impact right now.

And what are China and Russia saying about this proposed ban so far?

Well, not surprisingly, China is not happy about it. They see this as more of a national security concern. But China itself doesn't really have a leg to stand on because they have banned the use of Tesla automobiles by certain members of people in China.

I don't know about your algorithm, how much time you spend on TikTok, but my TikTok algorithm has been showing me all of these glowing reviews of some relatively cheap, very technologically advanced cars in China recently. I don't know if we have some to show here, but they do force you to wonder, why can't you find some of these Chinese cars already here in the United States? That was like lay flat seats inside of a car. All of it seems very coincidental to me, but why don't we already see Chinese cars in our market?

Yeah, I'm not getting that on my TikTok, but that's why they want to ban TikTok so badly because it makes you want these products. But this is another thing that the Biden administration did earlier this year. They put 100% tariffs on Chinese cars coming to the US. The thing is, there's no Chinese cars really available in the US. You see them now in Europe. But I think there's a concern that down the road that US consumers would want these cars because they're a lot cheaper, and that would undercut manufacturers from Tesla on down.

I get technology, but Detroit, hopefully, is paying attention because there's no technology that beats lay flat passenger seats. Fingers crossed, we get those in some American cars soon. Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

Thanks a lot.

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