General Motors Corp. (GM) plans to start importing Chinese-built vehicles into the U.S. in 2011, according to an outline the auto maker has submitted to members of the U.S. Congress.

GM currently manufacturers vehicles in China for sale in Asia. But the company plans for the first time to ship some of those vehicles to the U.S. to save on manufacturing costs.

A summary of the plan, obtained by Dow Jones Newswires, shows that GM plans to import 17,335 Chinese-built vehicles into the U.S. in 2011. The imports from China would jump to more than 38,000 in 2012 and more than 53,000 in 2013, the document shows. Imports from other countries, including South Korea, Japan and Mexico, would also increase. The plan is part of a broader cost-cutting strategy by GM, which has said it intends to cut 21,000 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. while increasing imports into the country.

Those plans are being devised under the guidance of U.S. President Barack Obama's auto-industry task force as part of GM's restructuring.

A GM spokesman declined to comment Wednesday, saying that negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and the company are ongoing.

The plans are being strongly opposed by the UAW, which argues that the company, surviving on more than $15 billion in U.S. loans, shouldn't be using taxpayer money to subsidize U.S. job losses.

-By Josh Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637; joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com