Ford Cuts Jobs, Investment for Michigan Electric Vehicle Battery Plant Linked to Chinese Firm

Ford Motor Company and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) are already cutting jobs and financial investment at an Electric Vehicle (EV) battery plant set for Marshall, Michigan.

In February, Ford announced the collaboration with CATL — China’s premier battery supplier — to build a $3.5 billion plant in the small community of Marshall that executives said would create 2,500 jobs.

A few months ago, Ford executives said they were putting the plant on pause though the company will now resume construction.

This week, Ford executives said their jobs and investment commitment are dwindling from their initial projection — cutting the number of jobs scheduled for the plant by 800 and potentially cutting their investment into the plant by more than $1 billion. Ultimately, the decision may cut the plant’s production by about 40 percent.

“We’ve been studying this project for the past couple of months,” Ford’s Mark Truby told the Detroit Free Press. “I think we’re all aware EV adoption is growing, and we expect that to continue, actually. But it’s not growing at the pace that I think ourselves and the industry had expected.”

Ford’s decision is yet another blow to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) who is backing the plant despite its ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and local opposition. Whitmer has planned to provide Ford with immense tax breaks to build the plant.

As Breitbart News reported,  CATL CEO Zeng Yuqun is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee — a high-ranking CCP advisory body that serves as a central component of the party’s “United Front” efforts.

China’s “United Front” efforts, as the federal government has noted, are considered to be a front for CCP intelligence operations overseas.

“The United Front strategy uses a range of methods to influence overseas Chinese communities, foreign governments, and other actors to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing’s preferred policies,” a federal commission report from 2018 details.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.