Demetri Sevastopulo, US-China correspondent for the Financial Times, said on X that Ford’s decision to expand its partnership with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) for energy storage batteries has drawn opposition from members of Congress.
"Ford's move to expand ties with China battery giant CATL angers US lawmakers," said Sevastopulo.
Sevastopulo co-authored a Financial Times article detailing Ford's initiative to establish a battery energy storage subsidiary using CATL technology. The report discusses Ford's conversion of a Kentucky electric vehicle (EV) plant and an existing Michigan facility under a 2023 licensing agreement. It highlights congressional opposition, including a letter from House China committee chair John Moolenaar requesting details on the deal due to CATL's alleged military links, which the company denies.
According to the Electrification Coalition, Michigan's EV manufacturing sector has benefited from $26.9 billion in investments, resulting in over 26,800 jobs supported by federal funding. However, partnerships like Ford's with CATL for battery production in Marshall raise concerns about reliance on Chinese technology. Governor Gretchen Whitmer said that China poses a competitive threat to Michigan's auto industry through its supply chain dominance and stressed the importance of domestic growth.
The Council on Strategic Risks reported that the United States imports nearly three-quarters of its lithium-ion batteries from China, with dependencies on graphite and other minerals increasing vulnerabilities in the EV sector. China supplies over 50 percent of US demand for 21 critical minerals. Companies such as BYD and CATL are listed as foreign entities of concern due to affiliations with the Chinese Communist Party, limiting their eligibility for federal subsidies.
Sevastopulo graduated from Trinity College Dublin and holds an MA in East Asian studies from Harvard University. He began his career as a currency derivatives trader at Citibank in Japan and has served at the Financial Times as Washington bureau chief, US politics correspondent, Pentagon and CIA correspondent, and South China correspondent.
