A possible seat at a White House state dinner is carrying unusual significance for two of China’s most powerful automotive companies. BYD and battery giant CATL are among the businesses being considered for a corporate delegation accompanying Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington for his planned September 24 meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The list is not final, and neither company’s participation should yet be treated as confirmed.
Their potential presence nevertheless lands at a sensitive moment. Washington has erected steep tariff, cybersecurity and national-security barriers around Chinese automotive technology, while American manufacturers are pressing the administration not to loosen them. The result is a striking diplomatic contrast: companies facing some of the strongest U.S. scrutiny could soon find themselves inside the White House as two governments negotiate the future of a deeply intertwined economic relationship.
The Business Delegation Is Still Being Finalized
Reuters reported on September 18 that Washington and Beijing were finalizing a group of Chinese business leaders who could accompany Xi during his Washington visit. BYD, CATL, Xiaomi, Gotion, Hisense, Wanxiang Group, Bank of China and COFCO Group were among the companies under consideration, according to people briefed on the preparations. Final invitations had not yet been issued, making the difference between “could attend” and “will attend” especially important.
The executives under consideration are expected to be associated with the September 24 state visit and could attend the White House state dinner. Reuters also reported that Chinese companies had been asked to prepare while officials awaited further clarity from talks between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Washington reportedly rejected a proposed U.S.-China CEO roundtable, meaning the business presence may be more closely tied to the leaders’ summit and ceremonial events than to a broad corporate conference. Neither the White House nor the relevant Chinese ministries had publicly confirmed the final corporate roster when the report emerged.
BYD Would Arrive as a Global Automotive Heavyweight
BYD’s potential inclusion matters because the company is no longer simply a rapidly growing Chinese EV challenger. It sold more than 4.6 million new-energy vehicles worldwide in 2025, with exports exceeding one million vehicles for the first time. Its 2025 annual reporting described BYD as the world’s top-selling new-energy-vehicle brand for a fourth consecutive year and said the company had climbed to fifth among global automotive groups by sales.
Its international push has continued in 2026. BYD reported global sales of 440,293 vehicles in August, up 17.8% from a year earlier, according to Reuters. Overseas shipments jumped 134.5% to 189,466 units during the month, helping compensate for tougher competition in China. Europe, Southeast Asia and Brazil have become increasingly important as BYD builds factories and distribution networks outside its home market. That global reach explains why American policymakers pay attention even though BYD-branded passenger cars currently have virtually no U.S. retail presence. A White House appearance would put one of the industry’s fastest-growing global competitors at the centre of an American debate over whether Chinese car companies should ever receive a meaningful route into the market.
CATL Is Already Connected to the U.S. Auto Industry
CATL represents a different challenge for Washington because its technology already sits deeper inside the global automotive supply chain. SNE Research estimated that CATL supplied 242.7 gigawatt-hours of batteries for electric vehicles during the first half of 2026, giving it a 39.9% global share. BYD ranked second at 14.4%. Together, the two Chinese companies accounted for more than half of worldwide EV-battery usage tracked during that period.
The American connection is particularly visible in Michigan. Ford’s wholly owned BlueOval Battery Park Michigan is preparing to manufacture lithium-iron-phosphate batteries using technology associated with CATL. Ford said in June that more than 500 employees had already joined the operation, with the workforce expected to reach 800 by year-end and ultimately support roughly 1,700 jobs. Ford stresses that it owns and controls the plant, while critics in Washington have focused on its reliance on CATL know-how. For workers building battery cells in Marshall, Michigan, the political dispute over Chinese technology is therefore not merely theoretical: it intersects directly with an American factory, future vehicle costs and local employment.
Tariffs Are Only One Part of the Barrier Facing Chinese Cars
The most visible obstacle to Chinese-made EVs remains the U.S. tariff wall. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative raised the additional Section 301 tariff on Chinese electric vehicles to 100% in 2024. Battery components were also targeted, with the Section 301 rate on lithium-ion EV batteries increased to 25%. Those duties were designed to protect strategic U.S. industries and respond to what Washington described as harmful Chinese technology-transfer and industrial practices.
An even more consequential barrier now comes from connected-vehicle regulation. A Commerce Department rule that took effect in March 2025 restricts vehicles and technologies with sufficient links to China or Russia because of concerns about access to driver information, communications systems and remote vehicle functions. Beginning with model year 2027, covered Chinese or Russian manufacturers cannot sell certain connected passenger vehicles in the United States, while restrictions on covered software also begin. Hardware provisions phase in later, generally with model year 2030. The regulations cover technologies including cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and satellite-connected systems, making local vehicle assembly alone insufficient to solve every market-access problem.
National-Security Scrutiny Extends Beyond Vehicle Imports
BYD and CATL also face another layer of U.S. scrutiny through the Defense Department’s Section 1260H process. CATL was added to the Pentagon’s list of companies it identifies as Chinese military companies in January 2025. CATL disputed that characterization, saying at the time that it did not engage in military-related activities. The designation does not amount to a blanket U.S. economic sanction, but it can carry contracting restrictions and significant reputational consequences.
BYD became part of that dispute in 2026. The Pentagon added BYD, along with companies including Alibaba and Baidu, to an updated Section 1260H list released in June. Reuters reported that BYD rejected the alleged military connection and considered legal action. This distinction matters when assessing the Washington visit: appearing at a state dinner would not automatically erase a Pentagon designation, modify Commerce Department rules or eliminate tariffs. Instead, it would highlight how diplomatic engagement and national-security restrictions can operate simultaneously. Washington can maintain formal restrictions on a company while the broader U.S.-China relationship still creates circumstances in which executives from that company participate in high-level diplomatic events.
U.S. Automakers Are Pressing Trump Not to Open the Door
Any discussion of greater access for Chinese automakers would face organized resistance from much of the established U.S. auto industry. Six groups representing manufacturers, suppliers and dealers wrote to Trump ahead of the Xi meeting urging his administration to maintain policies preventing Chinese automakers from selling, importing or manufacturing vehicles in the United States. Signatories included the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, American Automotive Policy Council, Autos Drive America, MEMA, the National Automobile Dealers Association and the Zero Emission Transportation Association.
Their membership spans companies that normally compete intensely with one another, including General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Stellantis and Tesla. The groups said Chinese automakers currently have zero U.S. market share and argued that allowing domestic production could establish a foothold at the expense of companies already manufacturing in America. Those are the industry groups’ stated concerns, rather than an established finding about what any future Chinese investment would produce. The intervention is significant because it came only days after Trump said he would be open to Chinese automakers building vehicles in the United States if they employed American workers.
Trump’s Comments Leave the Policy Debate Less Settled Than It Looks
Trump’s September comments added a new element to a debate often portrayed as a straightforward effort to exclude Chinese manufacturers. He said he would be comfortable with Chinese companies building vehicles in the United States if they created American jobs, comparing the idea with the long history of foreign automakers such as Japanese companies operating U.S. factories. At the same time, he opposed Chinese vehicles being manufactured in Mexico for shipment north into the American market and rejected reports that his administration had already decided to grant China new vehicle access.
That creates a gap between presidential rhetoric and the regulations currently in force. The Commerce Department’s connected-vehicle rule can restrict sales by manufacturers with a sufficient Chinese nexus even when a vehicle is assembled in the United States. Changing that framework would therefore require more than a factory announcement or presidential endorsement. Meanwhile, industry groups and lawmakers continue pushing for even tighter statutory restrictions. For BYD, the question is consequently not just whether it might one day build an American plant; it is whether U.S. policy would provide a legally workable route for the company’s vehicles, software and supply chain to reach consumers.
The Corporate Delegation Would Mirror Trump’s Beijing Strategy
There is recent precedent for combining summit diplomacy with corporate representation. When Trump travelled to Beijing in May 2026, executives including Tesla’s Elon Musk, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Apple’s Tim Cook and other prominent American business leaders joined the trip. The companies represented industries facing significant Chinese regulatory, market-access or commercial questions. The White House presidential record confirms Musk, Huang and Cook participated in events surrounding the visit.
Reuters later reported that many of those executives left Beijing without immediate clarity on major breakthroughs for their individual businesses. That experience offers useful context for the possible BYD and CATL appearances in Washington. Inclusion in a presidential delegation can provide visibility and access, but it does not by itself guarantee policy concessions or commercial agreements. Xi bringing high-profile Chinese executives would also create a degree of diplomatic symmetry: American companies sought greater access in China during Trump’s May trip, while Chinese companies facing U.S. barriers could now appear alongside their own president in Washington. The symbolism would be powerful even if formal automotive rules remained untouched.
The Bigger Negotiations Reach Far Beyond Cars
Automobiles are only one component of the September 24 summit. U.S. and Chinese officials are preparing discussions spanning trade, artificial intelligence, rare-earth supplies and the future of the broader economic truce. Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are due to hold preparatory talks, with rare-earth export access among Washington’s major concerns. China remains extraordinarily important to several critical-mineral supply chains, including materials essential to batteries, electronics and defence manufacturing.
That broader agenda makes it risky to interpret the possible presence of BYD or CATL as evidence that an automotive agreement has already been reached. No publicly confirmed decision currently eliminates the 100% Section 301 EV tariff, reverses the connected-vehicle restrictions or removes the companies from Pentagon scrutiny. The more immediate significance is diplomatic: two companies central to China’s rise in electric vehicles and batteries may be placed physically inside one of the year’s most important U.S.-China meetings. Whether that produces a genuine opening for Chinese automotive investment will depend on formal policy decisions made after the handshakes, photographs and state dinner are over.
