The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security could soon address a national security threat that was previously deemed “grave.”
In January, the agency issued a final rule that prohibits the importation and sale of connected vehicle technology from China and Russia. The rule was aimed to protect national security as “foreign adversaries” could use the tech to gain access to a vehicle or to gather personal information.
“It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to think of how foreign government with access to connected vehicles could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the personal privacy of U.S. citizens,” said Gina Raimondo, the former commerce secretary under the Biden administration.
However, the rule was limited to passenger vehicles. Was that because commercial motor vehicles that used connected technology weren’t considered as much of a threat? Not hardly.
The Bureau of Industry and Security said that the security risks associated with commercial vehicles “are grave” and that the agency’s decision to exclude them from this rulemaking “in no way implies that these risks are lesser than in the passenger vehicle market.”
Instead, the agency said that the compliance concerns associated with the “complex” commercial vehicle sector required a separate rulemaking.
According to the latest regulatory agenda, an interim final rule for vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds could be released as soon as this month.
“In this interim final rule, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security will implement a rule to address undue or unacceptable risks to national security …” the agency wrote.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association previously criticized the Department of Commerce for not immediately addressing the threat regarding commercial trucks.
“A ‘grave’ national security threat from China and Russia should not be put on the back burner,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in a statement released in January. “OOIDA is disappointed with the department’s decision to remove heavy trucks from the scope of its rulemaking on connected vehicles. A separate rule for trucks could delay addressing unacceptable and obvious national security risks posed by foreign-controlled technologies active on some U.S. commercial trucks today. We question the choice to remove heavy trucks when the department, itself, emphasizes the ‘grave’ national security risks associated with Chinese or Russian technology components in these vehicles.”
We will not know the details of the agency’s interim final rule until it is published in the Federal Register. LL
Related: The latest regulatory agenda addresses several other trucking issues.
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