Trump admin pushes out US official whose unit banned Chinese vehicles

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 1 min read 100% complete by ReutersJanuary 23, 2026 at 09:49 PM

AI Summary

short article 1 min

The Trump administration has pushed out Elizabeth Cannon, the Commerce Department official who led the Information and Communications Technology and Services office. This office, created in 2022, was responsible for investigating supply chain threats from foreign adversaries and effectively banned nearly all Chinese cars from the US market due to national security concerns regarding data collection and vehicle manipulation. Cannon's resignation follows the department's decision to drop planned restrictions on Chinese drones despite similar data security risks. The office has also yet to issue expected restrictions on medium and heavy-duty truck imports. While the existing rules barring Chinese passenger vehicles remain in place, the Trump administration has not indicated plans to modify them, and Trump has expressed openness to Chinese automakers building vehicles in the US.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Xi Jinping 40% Joe Biden 50% Bureau of Industry and Security 60% Information and Communications Technology and Services 70% China ×480% Elizabeth Cannon (Liz Cannon) ×280% Commerce Department 80% Donald Trump ×390% United States ×690%

Keywords

us-china relations 90% chinese vehicles 80% national security 80% trade restrictions 70% trump administration 70% supply chain 60% data collection 60% commerce department 60% chinese drones 50%