Congressional Probe of Ford Partnership With Chinese Firms Sparks Security Concerns

Then-Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), speaks during a press conference unveiling the results of the Committee’s investigation into the biolab discovered in Reedley, Calif., in Washington on Nov. 15, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is asserting that Ford Motor Co. plans to use technology and software from four Chinese companies that also supply the regime’s military, North Korea, and China’s Ministry of Public Security and have direct ties to the ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region.

Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, claim to have uncovered evidence of Ford’s plans while investigating the carmaker’s partnership with China-based electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL).

In February last year, Ford announced its partnership with CATL to build a $3.5 billion plant in Marshall, Michigan, to produce lithium-iron-phosphate batteries.

Mr. Gallagher and Ms. McMorris Rodgers are requesting that the Biden administration immediately blacklist the four companies that Ford plans to use over security and ethical concerns.

The lawmakers sent letters to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“[A] cursory review of publicly available information uncovered the abovementioned companies’ direct ties to the PLA, the CCP, China’s Ministry of Public Security, the ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, and the North Korean government,” the letter to Ms. Raimondo says.

Software Concerns

According to the lawmakers, before the Ford plant even goes online, its “entire security system could be compromised,” by the software from the four Chinese firms.

“It is indefensible for Ford to use the same cloud integration and data provider that is linked to North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs sanctions evasion activity,” Mr. Gallagher and Ms. McMorris Rodgers said.

“The same company that is actively supporting the PRC’s surveillance state will have the capability to embed backdoors, spyware, and other forms of malware within Ford’s iPaaS infrastructure, compromising the confidentiality and integrity of Ford’s sensitive information and posing [a] risk to American’s data privacy rights.”

In a separate letter to Ford CEO James Farley Jr., the lawmakers requested that the company make an official available for interview regarding any due diligence that Ford conducted before and after it entered into the agreements with CATL.

Ford Happy to Cooperate With the Committee

In a statement to The Epoch Times, a Ford spokesperson said they are fully committed to helping “the committees understand this Ford wholly owned and operated project.”

According to the spokesperson, Ford has “always followed all government regulations “across our business” and will continue to do so. All companies that partner with the automaker are also required to follow rigorous internal guidelines.

“Beyond legal requirements, Ford suppliers are required to meet our high standards and codes of conduct, including those to protect human rights, and are obligated to extend those requirements to suppliers with whom they might work,” the spokesperson said.

“We welcome any information from any source concerning the integrity of our supply chains and partners,” they added.

Deal Plagued by Concerns From Day 1

Ford expects production at the Michigan factory to begin in 2026, with the plant estimated to produce enough batteries for 400,000 EVs each year.

However, the deal has been plagued by concerns over economic and national security risks since first being inked.

Ford and Michigan officials say the deal is an economic boon for the state and that concerns have been overblown. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the battery factory could create at least 2,500 jobs and boost the local economy.

Ms. Whitmer’s office didn’t respond by press time to a request for further comment about the latest development.

Other public officials have expressed concern over the U.S. automaker’s collaboration with suspect Chinese firms, especially one whose chairman apparently gets advice from communist leader Xi Jinping and serves on the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body to the communist regime.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has called Ford’s proposed battery plant a “Trojan horse” for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to undermine U.S. efforts to strengthen the American auto industry. That’s why he says he pulled his state out of the running as a site for the plant over possible national security concerns.

This report was updated with a statement from Ford.