DETROIT — As President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, U.S. politicians as well as the global automotive industry are warning that allowing Chinese automakers to enter the market could be a Pandora’s box.
Trump earlier this month said he might be “OK” letting Chinese automakers into the U.S. if they produced vehicles domestically, leading a consortium of auto trade groups representing every major facet of the American auto industry to urge him to rethink that position.
It was an uncharacteristically unified message from automakers operating in the U.S., franchised dealers and suppliers. More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers followed that push with their own letter, urging Trump to keep in place U.S. restrictions against Chinese automakers.
“It’s not at this point a partisan issue,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., told reporters Wednesday. “It’s about whether we want to make cars in America and whether…
