MARSHALL, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Ford BlueOval plant was the topic of a letter submitted to the Biden administration, after two house committees asked that the Chinese companies involved be investigated, according to Reuters. 

The letter said that four Chinese companies have direct ties to the Chinese military, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), North Korean government, as well as alleged human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. 

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Under U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin), who chairs the select committee on China, and U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington), who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Commerce Department was asked to initiate export restrictions on the four Chinese companies involved in the BlueOval “facility’s design, construction, and information technology (IT) processes,” according to Reuters. 

Ford responds to the claims.  

On Monday, Ford responded in a statement to the proposed investigation into the Chinese company’s involvement in its Marshall based battery plant that would use China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. LTD (CATL) technology for the purpose of its lithium-iron phosphate batteries for electric vehicles. 

The company said it follows “all government regulations across our business” and added: “Ford suppliers are required to meet our higher standards, including for protecting human rights, and obligated to extend those requirements to suppliers with whom they might work,” according to Reuters. 

During a Michigan House Committee meeting last February regarding funding requests for the project, Christ Smith, Chief Government Operations Officer for Ford responded to questions about CATL’s involvement in the project. 

“The plant is going to be fully owned by a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, so this will be an American investment made in Michigan,” Smith said, “There aren’t going to be any foreign partners, our relationship with CATL will be as a technical service provider.  They are going to be providing technical services for the project; the project is going to be owned, operated, and run by a subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company making batteries that are going to be installed in Ford vehicles.”

He did not share a copy of the contract between Ford and CATL, admitting that the contract was still undergoing negotiations and would not be available for review. He reiterated that there would not be a partnership between Ford and CATL, but rather the company would serve as a technical service provider. 

According to the Detroit News, Ford spokesperson T.R. Reid shared yesterday that the details of the licensing agreement with CATL still haven’t been completed. 

Main supporters of the project.  

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Previously, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has voiced her support for the project and others including the Gotion plant under development in Big Rapids Michigan. 

“These new battery plants will be game changers: supporting thousands of families, uplifting local businesses, and ensuring our cities and towns thrive for decades to come,” Gov. Whitmer said. “They’ll help Michigan go toe to toe with China, bringing critical parts of the auto supply chain home. We must reduce our reliance on Chinese products, which have caused work stoppages, shortages, and car price hikes over the last few years.”  

However at the Governor’s Sixth State of the State last week, she neglected to mention either plant, instead highlighting the following EV investments in the state: 

  • Calumet Electronics in the Keweenaw Peninsula 
  • Nel Hydrogen’s gigafactory in Plymouth Charter Township  
  • Scout Motors’ R&D hub in Novi 
  •  Fortescue’s battery plant in Detroit
  •  Hydro’s aluminum recycling facility in Cassopolis  
  • SK Siltron’s semiconductor wafer plant in Bay City

Michigan – China Economic and Security Review group responds.  

Led by former Ambassadors Pete Hoekstra and Joseph Cella, the Michigan – China Economic and Security Review Group criticized the Ford deal with CATL. 

“From the outset this Ford-CATL “deal”, has been fast moving, shrouded in binding and punitive NDAS, with zero due diligence performed, defying the recommendations of our intelligence agencies, and their bi-partisan warnings that such “deals” are threats to our national security,” the pair said in a statement. 

Former Ambassador Joseph Cella shared with Michigan News Source the possible ramifications of these discoveries. 

“As the lead advocate for the deals and signator to an NDA Governor Whitmer would have seen the licensing agreement and the troubling ties now exposed,” he said in a statement to Michigan News Source, “The Ford-CATL ‘deal’ is a threat to our national security.  You need not look any further with the entanglements the CATL the PLA and Communist North Korea.“ 

Former Ambassador Cella also shared recent poll results. 

“A recent national poll showed 57% opposition to citizens’ taxpayer dollars funding PRC-based companies with deep ties to the CCP, and a recent statewide poll in Michigan showed people opposed 72-11,” he added. 

He also shared concerns because of the potential national security threat. 

“Because of the national security threat, our intelligence agencies have warned that such “deals” with PRC-based and CCP-tied companies need to be transparent and strictly scrutinized,” he said in a statement to Michigan News Source. “The State of Michigan and Ford Motor Company recklessly refused to do so.”

The former ambassador also commented on what the next steps should be given the new information. 

“Those responsible for such reckless deals will be held accountable at the ballot box; we will appeal to the legislature  to initiate bi-partisan investigations into all elements of  these “deals”, and to claw back the taxpayer dollars appropriated for these failed deals,” he said.