WASHINGTON D.C.—This week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN), Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), and Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) sent a letter to BYD North America LLC (“BYD”) and RIDE Mobility LLC (“RIDE”), requesting documents and information related to the corporate structure, data security practices, and operational footprint of BYD and RIDE as part of an ongoing investigation into the national security risks posed by foreign-affiliated transportation manufacturers operating in the United States. BYD is a subsidiary of BYD Company Ltd., which is headquartered in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), raising concerns about potential foreign influence, data exposure, and systematic vulnerabilities.
 
The request includes all government contracts, grants, financing, tax incentives, and subcontracts, a detailed breakdown of BYD and RIDE’s ownership structures, all internal and external cybersecurity risk assessments, documentation detailing whether BYD and RIDE has ever been required to comply with the PRC’s data sharing laws, whether any PRC agencies have requested access to U.S. data, and more. Read the full letter here.

Read the scoop in Bloomberg here.

In the letter, the members write, “Recent public reports underscore how these risks are neither speculative nor isolated. A Reuters investigation published on May 14, 2025, revealed that U.S. energy officials discovered “rogue communication devices” embedded in PRC-manufactured solar inverters and batteries. If this report is correct, these devices may have allowed for unauthorized communication channels that could bypass established cybersecurity safeguards, including firewalls, creating the potential for U.S. grid destabilization or coordinated disruption. This alarming precedent illustrates the potential for similar covert capabilities to be embedded in other PRC-affiliated technologies, including those deployed in electric vehicles or public transit platforms. It also reinforces a broader pattern of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leveraging seemingly benign infrastructure, whether in energy, maritime, telecommunications, or transportation, as strategic entry points for surveillance, disruption, or foreign influence operations.”
 
The members continue, “We are also concerned by your companies’ recent efforts to rebrand operations under the RIDE Mobility banner, a move that appears designed to portray your business as a U.S.-based domestic manufacturer. While rebranding is not itself improper, public representations made by RIDE fail to account for ongoing corporate and operational entanglements with PRC-based entities. This creates the appearance that your companies are seeking to circumvent procurement restrictions or avoid scrutiny applied to PRC-affiliated firms seeking access to the U.S. electric vehicle market. This concern is magnified by your companies’ extensive lobbying and public relations efforts aimed at U.S. government officials, labor unions, and local communities, often framed around themes of economic revitalization, domestic job creation, and “climate-friendly” innovation, while omitting relevant ownership, data privacy, and implications for national security.”
 
The members conclude, “The security and integrity of America’s transportation infrastructure must remain a top priority. We intend to take all necessary steps to ensure that entities with ties to foreign adversaries are not given access to critical U.S. transportation infrastructure. Failure to comply with this request may result in the Subcommittees pursuing further compulsory measures.”

Background:

This month, the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security held a hearing to examine suspected efforts by the CCP to build surveillance infrastructure in the Republic of Cuba (Cuba), just 90 miles off the U.S. coast and the risk it poses to the homeland. Committee members also sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, requesting a comprehensive threat assessment concerning the PRC expanding intelligence and security collaboration with Cuba.

In January, the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security and the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sent a letter to Acting U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin E. Lunday, requesting information on the Coast Guard’s actions to mitigate risks posed by a state-owned enterprise from the PRC, COSCO SHIPPING, and its operations within the U.S. Maritime Transportation System. 

The Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security held a hearing in February to examine the CCP’s strategic port investments in the Western Hemisphere and how these investments impact our homeland security. 

In March, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two critical pieces of legislation to counter the malign influence and supply chain dominance of the CCP in the homeland, the “Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act,” H.R. 1166 and the “SHIELD Against the CCP Act,” H.R. 708.

The Committee held a hearing in March to examine how the CCP undermines U.S. sovereignty through its use of espionage, transnational repression, pre-positioning in our critical infrastructure, intellectual property theft, supply chain dominance, and more.

Last year, Chairman Green, Chairman Gimenez, and Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) released a joint investigative reportexposing a rising threat to U.S. economic and homeland security posed by ZPMC cranes at our ports.

###