Logos of Ford and CATL Photos: VCG

John Moolenaar, chair of a US House of Representatives committee on China, is reportedly scrutinizing US automaker Ford Motor's decision to widen its partnership with Chinese battery giant CATL to produce energy storage batteries, demanding an explanation to the nature with CATL's cooperation while claiming China poses "a serious threat" to US supply chain independence and economic security. A Chinese car industry expert said cooperation with the globally leading battery giant is the best choice commercially for Ford, while US politicians' unreasonable move to disrupt normal business cooperation between US and Chinese companies in the EV and battery field will impact America's electrification trajectory.

Ford, the Michigan-based carmaker, on Tuesday (US time) said it was setting up a new battery energy storage subsidiary, Ford Energy, following its announcement last month that it was converting an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Kentucky, the US, into an energy storage battery facility using licensed CATL technology, the Financial Times reported.

Early in 2023, Ford announced its original partnership with CATL to produce low-cost lithium iron phosphate (LFP) EV batteries at a plant in Marshall, Michigan, which is set to begin operations this year. The latest move is designed to enable the carmaker to supply energy storage batteries for large AI data center projects and mitigate the losses from its ill-fated EV transition, according to the report.

However, the move now met with opposition in the US. In a letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley, John Moolenaar, chair of the House of Representatives' China committee, demanding an explanation as to the nature of the company's burgeoning relationship with the world's biggest battery maker, while claiming China poses a serious threat to US' supply chain independence and economic security, according to FT.

"The move indicates that some US politicians maintain a hard stance on cracking down on China's advantage industries. However, in this case, cooperating with CATL is the best choice for Ford commercially," Zhang Xiang, secretary-general of the International Intelligent Vehicle Engineering Association, told the Global Times on Friday.

Cooperation with the globally leading battery maker - which offers high-quality batteries and owns cutting-edge technologies - will benefit Ford by empowering its cars, and learning battery production technologies and cultivating talent for the US, the expert said.

Zhang warned that some US politicians' unreasonable move to scrutinize normal business cooperation between US and Chinese companies in the EV and battery field will impact America's electrification trajectory. "Currently, there is no complete power battery supply chain in the US. Previously, a US firm called A123 Systems made lithium-ion batteries, but filed for bankruptcy over a decade ago due to various reasons," he said.

Despite certain US politician's disruption, the US' overall attitude toward Chinese automakers seem to be more positive recently. US President Donald Trump, during a Michigan visit, openly invited Chinese automakers to build factories in the US.

"Let China come in, let Japan come in," Trump said. "They are and they'll be building plants, but they're using our labor," he said during the Michigan trip, where he toured Ford's factory and delivered a roughly one-hour speech at the Detroit Economic Club, media reported.

As executive of one of the US' largest automakers, Ford CEO Jim Farley himself also openly praised Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) on multiple occasions.

"I was very humbled when we took apart the first Model 3 Tesla and started to take apart the Chinese vehicles. When we took them apart, it was shocking what we found," Farley said in a podcast interview, according to a Business Insider's report on November 11.

The Ford CEO said in 2024 he'd been driving an electric sedan built by Xiaomi for six months, and "didn't want to give it up," per the report.

"In today's world, supply and demand are both global, and the capacity of each country is determined by comparative advantage. This must be seen from an objective, dialectical and rational perspective based on the laws of economics. China's leading edge in new energy is gained through strong performance, tech innovation and full-on market competition," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in April 2024, in response to a question over the US' hyping up about the issue of China's so-called "overcapacity."