Lawmakers Seek to Sanction Four Chinese Firms Tied to US EV Battery Project

Two House committee chairs have urged the Biden administration to place export restrictions and sanctions on four “highly troubling” Chinese companies that are slated to provide software and other technology to a planned electric vehicle battery factory in the U.S.

In addition to the four firms being suppliers to the Chinese military, the North Korean government and China’s Ministry of Public Security, some of them pose cybersecurity threats, facilitate human rights violations against China’s Uyghur Muslim minority, and helped North Korea evade U.S. and allied sanctions, said House Select Committee on China Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.

Gallagher and Rogers expressed their concerns in Jan. 22 letters to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The letters, released Jan, 29, ask Commerce to add the companies to the Entity List and ask Treasury whether the firms should be made subject to "any of Treasury’s sanctions authorities and programs," including the Specially Designated Nationals List.

The names of the four companies were redacted because they are considered sensitive commercial information belonging to Ford Motor Company, which plans to build the plant in Marshall, Michigan, with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL).

In a separate letter to Ford President and CEO James Farley Jr., the lawmakers asked Ford to make a company official available for an interview on the due diligence Ford conducted before and after it reached agreements with CATL. The lawmakers asked all three letter recipients to respond by Feb. 5.

In a statement, a Commerce spokesperson said the “department has received the letter and will respond through appropriate channels.” The Treasury Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Ford spokesperson said in a statement that the automaker “has always been and remains fully committed to following all government regulations across our business. Beyond legal requirements, Ford suppliers are required to meet our high standards and codes of conduct, including those to protect human rights.”