Ford is in the hot seat after announcing that it would open a battery plant in Michigan using technology from China’s CATL. Two committees from the U.S. House of Representatives have said they are investigating the Blue Oval’s partnership with the Chinese company.
The chairs of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Select Committee on China, both of whom are Republicans, have demanded that Ford answer their questions about the deal in a letter that they signed jointly.
“We are concerned that the deal could simply facilitate the partial onshoring of PRC-controlled battery technology, raw materials, and employees while collecting tax credits and flowing funds back to CATL through the licensing agreement,” the letter reads, per Reuters.
Read: China Wary Of Ford’s $3.5B Michigan Battery Factory With CATL
In the letter, it is claimed that after announcing its licensing deal with CATL in February, the Chinese battery giant “took steps to maintain effective control while appearing to divest its ownership stake” in companies based in Xinjiang that are allegedly connected to forced labor practices.
The committee members also alleged that several hundred of the 2,500 jobs created by the $3.5 billion plant will be filled by CATL employees from China. They will be in charge of setting up and maintaining equipment, the letter said.
Ford is reviewing the letter and says will respond in due time. It added that it “will own and run this plant in the United States, instead of building a battery plant elsewhere or exclusively importing LFP [lithium iron phosphate] batteries from China like our competitors do.”
It is still awaiting guidance to see if batteries produces at the plant will entitle the vehicles they go in to tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. Republican Senator Marco Rubio has urged the White House to investigate the deal and introduce legislation to bar the credits from being applied to any vehicle that uses CATL technology.
Meanwhile, Chinese officials have shown equal skepticism about the deal, which they say could give Ford access to CATL’s industry-leading technology.
