WASHINGTON/DETROIT –

The Biden administration’s proposed ban on Chinese connected-car technology could prove its strongest weapon yet to fend off an onslaught of cheap Chinese electric vehicles that has upended the global auto industry.

The ban on hardware and software, announced Monday by the U.S. Commerce Department, is the administration’s latest salvo after imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs and denying a $7,500 consumer EV subsidy to any vehicle with made-in-China components.

Unlike those measures, the connected-car tech prohibition would apply even to cars built by Chinese firms outside China — such as in Mexico or Europe, where they’re planning factories.