The Heritage Foundation is raising concerns that Ford Motor Co.’s partnership with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) may conflict with U.S. electric vehicle subsidy policy and involve foreign participation in battery supply chains, pointing to federal incentives and Ford’s political spending.
The concerns were outlined in a blog post by economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth, who argued that federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act intended to support domestic battery production could indirectly benefit companies linked to the People’s Republic of China.
In her post, Furchtgott-Roth said Congress allocated more than $7 billion in EV incentives for domestic production, not for firms tied to China, and questioned how the Ford-CATL arrangement aligns with those requirements.
The post comes as Ford continues expanding its U.S. battery manufacturing footprint through its BlueOval Battery Park Michigan facility in Marshall, a $2.5 billion to $3 billion investment that will use lithium iron phosphate battery technology supplied by CATL under a licensing agreement. The project may qualify for up to $900 million in Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credits, while the state of Michigan has provided $1.7 billion in incentives, according to Bridge Michigan.
Ford reported $1.18 million in political contributions and $3.19 million in lobbying expenditures during the most recent election cycle, totaling $4.37 million, according to OpenSecrets. CATL is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as a Chinese military company under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act.
The Heritage Foundation is a Washington-based public policy research organization. Furchtgott-Roth directs its Center for Energy, Climate and Environment and serves as the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow. The organization has published multiple analyses of the Ford-CATL partnership and Inflation Reduction Act subsidy provisions related to battery technology linked to the People’s Republic of China.
