Multiple published reports say legislation making its way through Congress could ban the sale of Mercedes Benz cars and trucks in the U.S., possibly including those built at the European automaker's North American plant in Tuscaloosa. Members of the House and Senate are considering a measure called the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026, which bans companies with Chinese ownership.
That could mean a problem for Mercedes-Benz, whose biggest owner is BAIC, a Chinese automaker which holds a nearly ten percent stake in the German based car company. Possibly worse for Alabama, CNBC reports that Mercedes could potentially be barred from manufacturing vehicles in the United States as well as selling them.
The impact of the Mercedes Benz plant in Alabama is huge. The website Autos Drive America says the North American factory generates $1.5 billion dollars a year for the state economy, as well as providing nearly sixty thousand jobs. The proposed legislation would block companies with direct or indirect ties with nations considered “foreign adversaries” including China, Russia, and North Korea, from building or selling cars in the United States.
The Alabama plant has reportedly produced more than five million vehicles since 1997. A separate facility in South Carolina facility has produced close to a half million more since 2006.
Along with alleged links to Chinese carmaker BAIC, Yahoo! Finance reports Chinese billionaire Li Shufu holds another nearly ten percent stake in Mercedes Benz through an investment firm. Between the two entities, that’s a nearly twenty percent ownership.
If the bill is passed in its current form, the bill would prohibit automakers owned by U.S. adversary nations from importing, selling, or manufacturing vehicles in the US for five years.
One clause that could work in Mercedes favor in Alabama, is that there’s wording to exempt automakers that produced passenger vehicles in the US for at least five years prior to the start of 2026. However, published reports say foreign ownership could void that exception.
The legislation is sponsored by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. There’s no Senate companion bill. Other automakers that could be impacted by the bill in its current form include Volvo and Lotus.
