Despite enormous pressure from Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Ford is putting a pin in the construction of a $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery factory. Planned for Marshall, Michigan, the deal would have them working hand in hand with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL). This company has been tied thoroughly and very extensively with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Ford spokesman T.R. Reid spoke to the Detroit News about the situation. “We’re pausing work, and we’re going to limit spending on construction at Marshall until we’re confident about our ability to competitively run the plant.” When pressed, he would only say a “number of considerations” were at play in the decision. He would not say if the strike had any impact on the decision or not. “We haven’t made a final decision about the investment there.”
The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike going on just across town comes from the factory workers who largely have their jobs under threat by the new EV plants. With the President and C-Suite executives pushing that way, the factory worker is largely looking at being forced out of their position. With that apparently of no concern to leadership, that brings us back to their newfound links to the CCP through CATL.
Whitmer knew full well what this deal was made of and still wanted to push for the deal enough to personally champion it around the offices. She knew that Ford would not only sink $3.5 billion into the plant, but they would also “secured about $210 million in direct tax incentives plus a 15-year property tax abatement worth about $775 million over the life of the tax break.”
Making the deal with CATL would also check the right boxes to qualify for President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on batteries made in the plant. Something that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) brought to the attention of numerous officials earlier in 2023.
“… if Chinese companies like CATL are able to exploit both Chinese and United States incentives for battery and EV technology through clever corporate arrangements, then there is no use in investing federal funds toward industrial development in the first place. Taxpayer dollars should never be used to support [People’s Republic of China] champions.”
Rubio is right too. This is the kind of program that needs no involvement with the CCP, not in any way, shape, or form. Most offensively, CATL CEO Zeng Yuqun is a well-publicized member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee. They are the top trust advisory group to the CCP’s “United Front” operations which deals greatly with government intelligence.
We already have a hard enough time with China setting up private police shops to try and keep Chinese people living abroad under Chinese rule, as well as imposing their will and rule across the world. They force the policies of Beijing on people everywhere, with little to no regard to host nation laws or regulations.
Their involvement in business here in the US with a company like Ford presents tremendous security implications. As it stands, Ford has a number of government contracts for fleet vehicles, and many of these are slated to become electric vehicles on military installations. As these vehicles drive around, their location is transmitted via satellite, and while roads on many bases are well mapped out, not all publicly available maps are accurate.
Having CATL as a partner could, in effect, give the CCP fully detailed maps of secret military installations within a matter of months. From traffic patterns to milage uses to the number of drivers, the amount of intel gathering that could be done under the guise of daily work or studying use patterns is incredible.
It’s time Ford wakes up and smells the coffee; if they want government money, government contracts, and tax breaks, they need to do business with American companies and not CCP organizations.
