The letter criticizes Ford’s decision to continue manufacturing some Lincolns in China until 2030.
Duffy wrote to Ford CEO Jim Farley on September 8, citing “profound concern”. “When a company intentionally chooses to deepen operational dependencies on strategic competitors, it fails to act as the reliable partner the American public and this DOT require,” the letter said. “DOT remains deeply alarmed by Ford’s continued reliance on licensed technology from Chinese battery manufacturer CATL at the operational BlueOval Battery Park facility in Marshall, Michigan,” Duffy wrote.
The US transportation secretary Sean Duffy recently sent a letter to American car giant Ford asking the company to cut ties with CATL and Geely. The letter objects to the joint venture Ford is building with Geely at its plant in Valencia, Spain. It takes aim at Ford’s technology licensing deal with CATL, under which the automaker is producing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries at a new plant in Michigan.
BlueOval Battery Park Michigan in Marshall is a Ford-owned and Ford-operated facility representing billions of dollars in investment and approximately 1,700 new American jobs. The CATL arrangement is a limited technology-licensing and services agreement, not a joint venture or foreign-owned manufacturing operation. In a statement, Ford pointed out that the White House praised the battery plant in a press release mere days ago. It is producing batteries in Michigan, with American workers, for Ford vehicles also built in America. Ford is investing to build batteries here in America While others continue to import Chinese batteries. Ford owns the plant, controls the operation and employs the workforce.
Ford believes the United States must compete from a position of strength with American ownership, American jobs, American production and strong national-security safeguards. That is exactly what we are doing across our U.S. manufacturing footprint. Ford supports the Trump administration’s vision for advancing American innovation and manufacturing. Had Secretary Duffy reached out before issuing his letter to the press, we would have been happy to share more details about Ford’s U.S. commitment.