Lawmakers urge auto CEOs to stop relying on EV batteries from China a day after Blinken met with Xi

A group of hardline lawmakers from the Chinese House will travel to Detroit, Michigan, on Tuesday to meet with top auto industry executives and distract the industry from reliance on supply chains in the PRC for electric vehicle (EV) battery production.

The meetings come a day after Foreign Minister Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and called the talks “candid and constructive.” Leaders discussed how the two countries can better “stabilize” relations despite rising tensions and escalating China’s aggression against neighboring Taiwan.

Blinken angered Republicans who berated him for saying the US did not support Taiwan’s independence at the meetings and did not represent the United States strongly enough, calling it a “dangerous display of weakness.”

House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., leads the group to Detroit, which includes Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich.

The program includes meetings Tuesday with Ford CEO Jim Farley and executive chairman Bill Ford and General Motors CEO Marry Barra, according to a committee official.

Lawmakers plan to specifically pressure Ford over why it continued to build a new EV battery plant in Michigan after Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin struck a similar deal in his state citing “national security concerns” .

The factory would use CATL technology, a Chinese battery manufacturer and technology company. There are concerns that US and related auto suppliers are being undermined by CCP-subsidized auto suppliers, including CATL.

Youngkin called the project a “Trojan horse” that would make it easier for China to infiltrate the US auto industry.

A committee aide told DailyMail.com that lawmakers are also concerned about CATL being eligible for both “production and vehicle tax credits.”

The Inflation Reduction Act was designed to reduce reliance on the PRC in critical sectors and not further entrench the reliance of U.S. companies on the CCP, so therefore CATL should not be eligible for IRA incentives, the aide continued.

“Ford shares the committee’s goals to strengthen U.S. competitiveness and establish EV supply chains in the U.S., and at our meeting tomorrow, we plan to share exactly how we’re doing that,” Ford said in a statement to Bloomberg.

Blinken angered Republicans who berated him for saying at this week’s meetings that the US does not support Taiwan independence

House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., will lead the group to Detroit on Tuesday

“The entire EV battery plant we’re building in Michigan is just the latest example,” the company continued.

In April, President Biden unveiled the strictest regulations yet on auto emissions in a bid to push more Americans to buy expensive electric vehicles.

The strict new pollution limits would require 67 percent of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2032, which is about 10 times the number currently sold and well above the president’s previous commitment to have electric cars by 50 percent to make. cars sold in 2030.

According to Kelly Blue Book, the average cost of an electric car in 2022 was $64,338, while the average cost of a gas-powered car was significantly lower at $46,000.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new emissions rule will affect car model years 2027 through 2032, requiring an annual average pollution reduction of 13 percent.

Lawmakers will also hold a roundtable with auto suppliers – Our Next Energy ONE, Continental, Lonero Engineering, Bosch, BorgWarner and Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association.

Another expected topic of discussion is the use of Uyghur forced labor in US automaker supply chains.

The committee refers to a recent report from Sheffield Hallam University that found that more than 50 international auto parts or car manufacturers – including Ford, GM and Tesla – purchase directly from “Xinjiang-based companies.”

It also mentioned that more than 100 international auto parts companies have been exposed in some way to goods made through forced labor in the PRC, an employee said.