Ford suddenly pauses massive EV battery project that Republicans are probing over CCP ties

U.S. automaker Ford Motor Company announced Monday that it would pause construction of a billion-dollar plant in Michigan involving a Chinese electric vehicle battery company.

Ford said in a statement to FOX Business that work on the factory had been paused and spending would be limited, but declined to pinpoint the exact considerations that factored into the decision. The Detroit-based company also said it hadn’t made a final decision about the project despite repeatedly defending it for months.

“We’re pausing work and limiting spending on construction on the Marshall project until we’re confident about our ability to competitively operate the plant,” Ford spokesperson T.R. Reid told FOX Business. “We haven’t made any final decision about the planned investment there.”

Ford announced in a ceremony earlier this year that it would invest $3.5 billion to build the plant in Marshall, Michigan. As part of the announcement, the U.S. automaker said it had reached an agreement with Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), a Ningde, China-based firm, to manufacture battery cells at the plant using services provided by the Chinese company.

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While Democrats including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer applauded Ford’s announcement, since it was unveiled in February, Republicans and national security experts have blasted the company for teaming up with a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese Communist Party on such a major investment.

The plan had been considered for Virginia, though it never reached a final discussion stage. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin opposed the plant over China’s potential influence in the plan and argued that “CATL and the Chinese Communist Party would have full operational control over the technology.”

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“We applaud that the construction of this reckless deal has been halted,” former U.S. Ambassadors Peter Hoekstra and Joseph Cella, co-founders of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, said Monday. “From the outset, Ford Motor Company, the State of Michigan, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and all other parties to it have been irresponsible in advancing this deal.” 

“There was zero strict scrutiny or due diligence, concerns of our intelligence and national security agencies were ignored and mocked,” they continued. “The halting of the construction is the natural result of the consent of the governed being ruptured by government and business elites. With citizen activists, we are not relenting or letting our guard down. We will keep fighting against the Ford-CATL and Gotion deals until they are no more.”

Although it is not state-owned, Chinese investors tied to the CCP have held financial stakes in CATL, according to a New York Times review. The Chinese government has also taken strategic steps over the last decade to bolster CATL and other electric vehicle industry companies based in China. 

In addition, Zeng Yuqun, who founded CATL in 2012 and remains its top executive, was identified last year as a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee. According to a U.S. government report published in 2018, the CPPCC is a “critical coordinating body” that brings together representatives of Chinese interest groups and is led by the CCP’s Politburo Standing Committee.

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The CPPCC highlighted Yuqun’s work with CATL fortifying China’s lithium supply chains which are crucial for electric vehicle production and other green energy development.

Earlier this month, a group of House Republicans — led by Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith, R-Va. — wrote to Ford CEO Jim Farley, expressing concern over the proposed plant.

“While Ford has labeled this project a ‘commitment to American manufacturing’ and asserts it will create 2,500 new American jobs, we are concerned that Ford’s partnership with a Chinese company could aid China’s efforts to expand its control over United States electric vehicle supply chains and jeopardize national security by furthering dependence on China,” they stated in their letter.

“Should China gain control of domestic electric vehicle production, the United States would be exposed to serious national security risks at a time of escalating geopolitical tensions.”

GOP leaders on the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party have raised concerns about the project in separate inquiries to Ford.