Top House Republicans demanded information Thursday on the partnership between Ford Motor Company and the Chinese battery maker CATL, citing new information about the licensing agreement that they said raised concerns over the battery maker’s ties to forced labor.

In the letter to Ford, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) demanded the automaker provide more information about the partnership, which includes a $3.5 billion factory in Michigan that has also come under criticism.

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In particular, the lawmakers cited concerns over what they said was new evidence that CATL had not publicly divested its share of the Xinjiang Zhicun Lithium Industry Company, which has been linked to forced labor, before it inked its deal with Ford that was announced in March.

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The circumstances of the sale raise “serious questions about whether CATL is attempting to obscure links to forced labor,” the lawmakers said in a statement.

They also warned Ford that, should it continue to rely on China for its inputs to produce EV batteries, “the company will be exposing itself and U.S. taxpayers to the whims of the Chinese Communist Party and its politics.”

Original Location: House Republicans demand information on Ford partnership with Chinese battery maker

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