Republican lawmakers are raising concern about a new partnership between Ford Motor Company and a Chinese company that makes car batteries, investigating possible links to forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China.
The GOP chairmen of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to Ford on Thursday demanding documents related to their partnership with Contemporary Amperex Technology, Co. Limited (CATL).
Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chairmen of the respective committees, said public financial disclosures and media reporting in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) suggest that CATL has taken steps to shield its connection to companies based in the Xinjiang region of China, where the U.S. has determined China is committing genocide against the minority, Uyghur-Muslim population.
In 2021, President Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which bans companies importing products from the Xinjiang region unless they can prove that products are not linked to forced labor.
“We write jointly today to seek information about the partnership agreement, Ford’s knowledge of CATL’s apparent attempt to shield its connection to Xinjiang-based companies, and Ford’s commitment to advance U.S. battery production,” the chairmen wrote.
The information requested includes:
- A copy of the licensing agreement between Ford and CATL — including all appendices — in both English and Chinese
- All documents and communications between Ford and CATL referring or relating to the licensing agreement in the original language, i.e. not in a translation
- All documents and communications between Ford and the Biden Administration referring or relating to the Ford/CATL licensing agreement and/or achievable tax credits
The lawmakers also raise concern that the proposed agreement includes employing Chinese citizens at factories in the U.S., saying “a significant portion of these well-paying jobs” would not go to Americans.
The lawmakers wrote that Smith had sent a letter to Ford in April inquiring about the deal with CATL, and that the response “did not provide the level of detail sought by the committee.”
The New York Times reported that T.R. Reid, a spokesman for Ford, acknowledged receipt of the letter, was reading through it and would respond in good faith. Reid also told the newspaper that human rights were fundamental to how Ford did business and that the automaker was thorough in assessing such issues.
“There has been an awful lot said and implied about this project that is incorrect,” Reid told The Times. “At the end of the day, we think creating 2,500 good-paying jobs with a new multibillion investment in the U.S. for great technology that we’ll bring to bear in great electric vehicles is good all the way around.”
A media contact was not readily accessible on the Ford Motor website.