S. 4429, Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026

S. 4429 would prohibit the sale, import, or manufacture of internet-connected vehicles and component parts from China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia. The bill would expand penalties for entities that violate such prohibitions. The bill also would require the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to report to the Congress on the effectiveness of the bureau’s implementation of trade controls for connected vehicles.

BIS regulations currently prohibit transactions involving internet-connected vehicles that weigh less than 10,000 pounds and their components from China and Russia. Entities are broadly prohibited from importing goods from Iran and North Korea, which would include the items that would be prohibited by S. 4429. Thus, CBO estimates that few additional people would be subject to civil or criminal penalties for violating U.S. trade laws under S. 4429. Such penalties are recorded as revenues, and a portion of those penalties can be spent without further appropriation. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would have insignificant effects on both revenues and direct spending and would reduce net deficits by less than $500,000.

CBO estimates that satisfying the bill’s reporting requirement would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026-2031 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

S. 4429 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by expanding the scope of an existing mandate that prohibits the sale, import, or manufacture of internet-connected vehicles weighing under 10,000 pounds and component parts to include those from North Korea and Iran. Because entities in the United States are already prohibited from importing goods, services, and technology from those countries, CBO estimates that there would be no cost to comply with the mandate.

The bill also would impose a private-sector mandate by expanding similar prohibitions to internet-connected vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds. That class of vehicles includes medium and heavy-duty pickup trucks, box and delivery trucks, and buses.

The cost of compliance would be the net difference in costs for manufacturers or suppliers to acquire a comparable replacement part not subject to the regulation or any revenue forgone from unrealized sales of imported vehicles. For manufacturers located in the United States that produce vehicles subject to the regulations, the cost of compliance would be the revenue forgone on vehicles that can no longer be manufactured or assembled domestically. CBO has no basis for determining the cost of compliance because it would depend on regulations that have yet to be issued. Therefore, CBO cannot determine whether the costs of the mandate would exceed the private-sector threshold established in UMRA ($214 million in 2026, adjusted annually for inflation).

The bill does not contain an intergovernmental mandate as defined in UMRA.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Aldo Prosperi (for federal costs) and Brandon Lever (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.