The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday proposed a ban on Chinese-developed software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles, provoking a strong backlash from economists and observers.

According to the measure, "malicious access" to the Vehicle Connectivity System and the Automated Driving System could allow "adversaries" to access and collect the most sensitive data and remotely manipulate cars on American roads. Adversaries, in this context, are China and Russia.

The Biden administration acknowledged that few Chinese or Russian vehicles are currently on U.S. roads but noted that it wanted to take "proactive" measures, highlighting national security concerns.

"I think that the U.S. government may be projecting the kind of malware itself plans to install in some connected systems," Jeffrey Sachs, an economics professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, told Xinhua. "There is absolutely no evidence that China is doing so."

Sachs also noted that another aim is protectionism, "to damage Chinese EV exports to the U.S. and Europe."

Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Xinhua that the proposed rule represents a giant step towards decoupling. "The United States is not yet at war with China, but it is well along the decoupling path," he said.

Hufbauer, a former official at the U.S. Treasury Department, noted that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan previously promised that U.S. restrictions on direct commerce with China would be confined to limiting the flow of advanced technologies with "a small yard and a high fence". "The small yard has since grown into a large pasture with no discernable fence," said Hufbauer.

Earlier bans on Chinese tech giant Huawei and current efforts to force TikTok either to be sold to a U.S. firm or face a ban follow the same logic.

Hufbauer added that if the latest proposed rule charts the future path of U.S. import bans, with no consideration of the cost to the U.S. economy, then it is only a matter of time before de-risking becomes decoupling.

The New York Times viewed combating real and perceived Chinese threats as one of the few issues that have won both Democratic and Republican support, though "many experts on China believe that the fear of Beijing has gone too far -- and that it is also hurting American consumers."

U.S. automakers "risk falling behind" if they do not have access to the latest technology, said the American daily, depicting China as the world's largest car market that dominates the production of electric car batteries.

"Rather than banning China's technology, the United States and China should take cooperative and diplomatic steps to ensure that neither party nor other countries behave in this manner," said Sachs.

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