USA : So you want to sell cars in the number 2 car market?
China : Sure.
USA : But what about all the spying you want to do?
China : We don't want to spy on drivers.
USA : Bullshit.
China : OK how about this. We build a car with no capability of spying. EV with 100kwh, USB port, and big screen. It would be super low priced and undercut legacy auto because they cannot make one.
USA : No. And now that you mention it we are bumping up tariffs just in case.
If spying is the issue then like safety it can go through security certification as well as crash safety certification. But I don't think spying is the real issue at hand here. I have an ebike with Chinese electronics, motor, and batteries. Pretty sure it doesn't spy on me and yet it is still highly usable for transportation.
If people want spying capability they can buy the more expensive option from legacy auto. After decades and decades of blocking EVs this is just delay to get legacy auto onboard with EVs. It's a bad idea.
And do you think that inspection has been done at that level for the past 30 years for all consumer electronics? USA buying stuff from China ain't new.
It's called chain of custody. Most people use software. Especially phishing.