Re: Ford Halts Work on Chinese-Backed EV Battery Plant Amid Union Strike

On 26 Sep 2023, tRUMP fRAUD <[email protected]> posted some
news:[email protected]: 

> But Biden said it was a done deal!  HAHAHAHA!

Ford Motor said on Monday it has paused work on a $3.5 billion electric 
vehicle battery plant in Michigan backed by a Chinese company, citing 
concerns about its ability to competitively operate the plant at a time 
when it remains locked in broader contract negotiations.

United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain blasted Ford, saying the 
announcement was "a shameful, barely-veiled threat by Ford to cut jobs. 
... We are simply asking for a just transition to electric vehicles and 
Ford is instead doubling down on their race to the bottom."

Ford has repeatedly raised its offer to the union in contract talks 
without securing a deal, while the fate of battery plant workers has 
remained a key issue in negotiations with the Detroit Three.

"We are pausing work and limiting spending on construction on the Marshall 
project until we're confident about our ability to competitively operate 
the plant," Ford said on Monday, declining to say what specific reason 
triggered the decision but adding there were a number of considerations. 
"We haven't made any final decision about the planned investment there."

President Joe Biden on Tuesday is set to visit Michigan to join a UAW 
picket line in support of striking workers at the Detroit Three 
automakers.

Ford in February announced plans to build the plant in Michigan, betting 
that making the batteries in the United States would help it and Chinese 
partner CATL attract U.S. customers to embrace a lower-cost technology 
pioneered in China.

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) said: "Ford has been clear that 
this is a pause, and we will continue to push for successful negotiations 
between the Big 3 and UAW so that Michiganders can get back to work doing 
what they do best."

The UAW and some in Congress want automakers to pay workers at battery 
plants the same higher wages that workers at assembly and engine plants 
receive.

Republicans in Congress have been probing Ford's battery plant plan over 
concerns it could facilitate the flow of U.S. tax subsidies to China and 
leave Ford dependent on Chinese technology.

Representative Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of a House select 
committee on China, said lawmakers were "encouraged to see Ford take a 
crucial first step to reevaluate its deal" with CATL. "Now, Ford needs to 
call off this deal for good," he added.

A former U.S. intelligence official testified to Congress in July that the 
factory would "100 percent" bring Chinese spies into the United States.

Ford in July forecast a full-year loss of $4.5 billion on its EV unit—50 
percent higher than projected earlier this year—and said it was slowing 
its EV production ramp up. Ford also has said it plans to quadruple sales 
of gas electric hybrids over the next five years.

The industry is watching how new rules around future EV tax credits will 
be implemented as automakers make investment decisions on producing 
batteries for the transition to EVs.

In 2022, Congress passed the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), 
which will bar $7,500 in future consumer EV tax credits if any battery 
components are manufactured or assembled by a "foreign entity of concern."

Ford has been awaiting guidance to determine if batteries operated by the 
Marshall plant would run afoul of the requirements.

It had urged the Treasury to take a narrow view of the restriction, 
warning that "an overly expansive interpretation of this provision risks 
... making the clean vehicle credit largely unavailable."

Some Michigan Republicans have questioned the $1.7 billion in planned 
state incentives for the Marshall plant that Ford has said is expected to 
employ 2,500 workers.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Nick Zieminski, Deepa 
Babingtone, and Jamie Freed)

Published under: Ford

https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/ford-halts-work-on-chinese-backed-ev-
battery-plant-amid-union-strike/