ford CEO Jim Farley has presented US President Donald Trump with a proposal that would allow Chinese automakers to build cars in North America.
The proposal as reported by Automotive Newsthe Ford boss told members of the president’s cabinet. It suggested that Chinese automakers could build cars in the United States through joint ventures with local manufacturers such as Ford.
Under the plan, profits from the joint ventures would be shared with U.S. automaker partners, so the financial benefits would not go exclusively to Chinese companies.
It reflects the approach China took to building its global automotive industry, which led to the country overtaking Japan to become the world’s largest automaker in 2025. The Chinese strategy dates back to 1983, when BAIC and American automaker AMC partnered to build Jeeps there.
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Joint ventures allowed Chinese manufacturers to learn from established automakers such as Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford through intellectual property and technology sharing agreements.
Automotive News Mr Farley reportedly presented the idea to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin at the 2026 Detroit Auto Show in January.
It went on to say that Mr Farley was not pushing the joint venture option, but was discussing it as a possible option – albeit one that was “coldly received” by Trump administration officials, who reportedly felt they would face resistance in Washington.
Ford is said to have held discussions with Chinese automakers such as BYD, Xiaomi and Geely about possible plans to build its own models in the US at Ford plants – and possibly in factories in Europe.
No decisions have been made following the Ford boss’s proposal to the White House, which came after Ford posted its biggest full-year financial loss since the global financial crisis, citing tariffs and electric vehicle losses as major factors.
Joint ventures could reduce tariffs while reducing the cost of imported parts needed to produce electric vehicles in the United States.
The report follows comments from President Trump in January in which he said the U.S. should “let China in,” while Canada recently cut its tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles from 100 percent to just 6.1 percent for the first 49,000 imports each year. Numerous Chinese brands are now selling vehicles south of the border in Mexico.
BYD, which overtook Tesla to become the world’s best-selling electric vehicle brand in 2025, does not sell cars in the U.S. because Chinese brands are virtually shut out by tariffs and restrictions on Chinese software and hardware.
However, a handful of Chinese-made vehicles are offered in the U.S., including the Polestar 2, Buick Envision and Lincoln Nautilus.
The US is the second largest new car market in the world after China, offering Chinese brands a significant opportunity to cement their place in the global automotive industry.
Still Automotive News Ford has reportedly “emphasized the need to protect our home market from a flood of subsidized Chinese-built vehicles,” while President Trump recently spoke of “restoring the American dream” through vehicle emissions laws.
This happened with the recent repeal of President Trump’s 2009 endangerment resolution, which declared greenhouse gases an environmental and health hazard, repealed emissions regulations, and potentially extended the lifespan of internal combustion engine vehicles.
This has further complicated the outlook for electric vehicle sales in the US, which has already suffered from the elimination of federal incentives and the imposition of new tariffs.
The Chinese auto industry has invested heavily in electric vehicles, and Mr Farley himself had a Xiaomi SU7 as his daily driver in the US. He spoke fondly of the car, even though it wasn’t built by any of Ford’s Chinese joint venture partners.
The Ford executive warned that the low costs and high quality of Chinese brands could drive their American counterparts out of business if they were given full access to the U.S. market.
MORE: Global car sales 2025: BYD and Geely continue to climb into the top 10
