(LibertySociety.com) – The House Energy and Commerce Committee is worried about the Chinese government’s recent deal with Ford Motor Company to provide battery cells for electric vehicles. While Ford touts the deal with Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), calling it a “commitment to American manufacturing,” 26 House Republicans believe that it may pose a national security threat to the United States. The committee wrote a letter to Ford’s CEO Jim Farley on September 1, expressing concerns that the partnership “could aid China’s efforts to expand its control over the United States electric vehicle supply chains.”
Ford has plans to build a battery manufacturing plant in Michigan and use the services provided by CATL to make the batteries. Lawmakers are seeking details to learn more about the deal but told Farley that they believe it may further America’s dependence on the country. The company originally aimed to build the plant in Virginia, but Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin opposed the deal due to the potential influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer saw no problem with the deal, throwing her full support behind it.
Although the company is not owned by the Chinese government, its founder is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, (CPPCC) which has ties to the CCP. Lawmakers have been reviewing the deal for several months, discovering in July that many of the new jobs could be taken by Chinese workers rather than American workers. The committee highlighted this concern in its letter to Farley, noting that similar occurrences have taken place in Latin America and Africa. Republicans asked Ford to hand over the licensing agreement in its entirety to the committee, in addition to all correspondence between Ford and the government.
Fox News reached out to Ford to provide comments about the committee’s letter. A spokesperson for the company refuted that any joint ownership existed with CATL, stating that Ford is merely obtaining a license for the company’s technology.
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