Three House Committees Threaten Ford With Subpoena or Order to Testify over CATL Deal
House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher, House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith and Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers are telling Ford that pausing its partnership with the Chinese electric vehicle battery maker CATL doesn't get them off the hook to answer their questions about the technology licensing deal it had with the company.
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Ford said two days ago that it was suspending the CATL partnership; on Sept. 27, the three committee leaders released a letter they sent to Ford's CEO that "Ford chose not to respond with any meaningful detail or substance" to a House Ways and Means letter in April, and also didn't send the documents its committees asked for in July and September, instead sending "a narrative letter that did not meaningfully answer" the questions it had been asked.
They said Ford's refusal to provide the requested documents may result in a subpoena "or insisting that you appear before Congress to publicly explain your failure to comply." They gave the company until Oct. 6 to produce the details it sought.
"So that a full and complete record of those documents can be produced to the Committees and the House Energy and Commerce Committee in response to future document requests, please preserve all e-mail, electronic documents, and data (“electronic records”) related to Ford’s agreement with CATL. For the purposes of this request, 'preserve' means taking reasonable steps to prevent the partial or full destruction, alteration, testing, deletion, shredding, incineration, wiping, relocation, migration, theft, or mutation of electronic records, as well as negligent or intentional handling in a manner that would make such records incomplete or inaccessible," they wrote.
They are seeking internal documents about the licensing agreement, information about Chinese employees who were expected to work in Michigan as the battery factory opened, and "Ford's discussions with the Biden administration regarding its CATL partnership and EV tax credits."
Back in July, the Select Committee on China wrote: "The timeline of a divestment made by CATL and CATL’s deal with Ford, in combination with the fact that entities closely connected with CATL appear to have maintained ownership and control post-divestment, raises serious questions about whether CATL is attempting to obscure links to forced labor." They are asking what Ford knew about the links to Xinjiang Lithium, and about the company's "attempts to shield its connections to Xinjiang-based companies that are banned from exporting product to the U.S."