STRAINED RELATIONS BETWEEN THE U.S.
AND CHINA have manifested themselves in a
tariff battle, U.S. pushback against Chinese
technology companies, and efforts to check
the business of state-owned railcar manu-
facturer CRRC Corp.
Created by the 2014 merger of two large
manufacturers, CRRC is the world’s largest
rolling stock supplier. With $30 billion in
revenues and 180,000 employees, it is a For-
tune Global 500 company with U.S. assem-
bly plants in Chicago and Springfield, Mass.,
plus one to come in City of Industry, Calif.
CRRC has won contracts to supply cars
to the Chicago Transit Authority, the South-
eastern Pennsylvania Transportation
Authority, LA Metro, and the Massachusetts
Bay Transportation Authority. But it was a
bid to build 256 railcars for the system serv-
ing the District of Columbia, the Washing-
ton Metropolitan Area Transportation
Authority, that drew lawmakers’ attention.
Proposed legislation with bipartisan sup-
port in both houses of Congress would
prohibit transit agencies from using federal
funds to buy railcars or buses manufactured
by Chinese companies.
It’s driven by fears that China could
monitor passengers including Pentagon
and other government officials, or have the
ability to seize control of trains through a
technological back door.
Washington-area senators threatened to
block WMATA funding unless it agreed
not to buy from CRRC. The agency subse-
quently required the winning bidder’s
hardware and software to be certified by a
federally approved third party.
Leading the charge against CRRC in
Washington is the Rail Security Alliance.
Erik Olson, the group’s vice president,
alleges the firm can underbid competitors
because it is “subsidized by the Chinese gov-
ernment,” and says “federal taxpayer dollars
should not be flowing back to China.”
Marina Popovic, legal counsel for
CRRC Sifang America, the company’s
Chicago subsidiary, tells Trains, “We’re
just part of the competition and want to
remain part of the competition.”
To fulfill its contract with the Chicago
Transit Authority, CRRC built a $100-million plant on Chicago’s South Side.
Popovic says employment will eventually
number “in the hundreds.” Many will be
union workers; the company has agree-
ments with the International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers and with SMART,
representing sheet metal workers.
Its railcar shells are fabricated in China,
but high-value components are sourced in
the U.S. for 70% American content. The
company provided data to Trains showing
it has 40 U.S.-based suppliers, including
Wabtec, Siemens, and Knorr Brake Co.
Additional support for the anti-CRRCLawmakers target carbuilder
Chinese manufacturer caught in US-China trade war
TrainsMag.com 11CRRC President Sun Yongcai, then a vice
president, was on hand for the groundbreak-
ing for the CRRC Sifang America plant in
Chicago in 2017. TRAINS: David Lassen