The United States will give “lead time” for South Korean companies to adjust their supply chains for connected vehicles, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday, as Washington is pushing for regulations to address security risks stemming from those vehicles using Chinese technology.

Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez made the remarks during an economic security forum, stressing the importance of multilateral cooperation with South Korea and other allies to prevent potential adversaries from using technology against them.

The U.S. has been pushing for a regulatory measure for connected vehicles amid concerns that those cars with cameras, sensors, software and other components — manufactured in China — could be used to glean sensitive data about drivers and passengers, as well as U.S. infrastructure.

“We are doing some controls around that. Obviously, we’ve been talking to the Korean companies about what we intend to do,” Estevez said during the forum in Washington as he expoun
ded the regulatory move targeting Chinese and Russian cars.

U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez speaks during an economic security forum in Washington on Sept. 10, 2024. (Yonhap)

“There will be some lead time for companies to adjust their supply chains should those companies be acquiring those type of technologies (subject to U.S. controls),” he added.

The South Korean automotive industry has been carefully watching the U.S. regulatory move as it could affect their production of connected vehicles.

The official said Washington will shortly be putting out another notice of a proposed rule putting restrictions on the ability to import cars with the components that “manages the software ecosystem, the entertainment, software updates or the drive system of the car.”

In late April, Seoul raised the South Korean automotive industry’s concerns over the U.S.’ envisioned rules to address risks from connected vehicles as the U.S. Commerce Department requested public feedback on
its rule-making process.

It expressed expectation that the U.S. will provide a “precise” definition of the scope of connected vehicles, as it pointed out that the current U.S. definition of the cars in question is “excessively broad.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency