Chinese battery firm says it's eligible for US taxpayer-funded subsidies, despite critics' security concerns

A Chinese battery manufacturer stated Wednesday that it is eligible to receive United States taxpayer funding and other incentives, despite security concerns voiced by critics, reported the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Chinese Communist Party-linked battery manufacturer Gotion Inc. plans to build a plant in Illinois and another in Michigan.

On Wednesday, Qian Cheng, the executive vice president for the battery firm's parent company, Gotion High-Tech, stated during an interview with CNBC that the company would be eligible to receive taxpayer subsidies.

Concerned about potential national security threats, Republican lawmakers are demanding that Gotion undergo a new security review with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

In September, Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding the CFIUS review the company after it purchased 400 acres of land in Michigan. The letter was signed by Senator Marco Rubio (R) of Florida and Michigan Representatives John Moolenaar, Lisa McClain, Bill Huizenga, and John James. Illinois Representative Mike Bost also signed it.

The Republican lawmakers argued that the company requires "a rigorous review" because its investments "effectively hand substantive decision-making" regarding infrastructure to the Chinese government. They noted that the company's shareholders include individuals linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

"It is not in the interest of the United States to allow the CCP to control facilities estimated to produce thousands of those batteries, much less to provide it with hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funded subsidies to do so," the lawmakers' letter stated.

When asked Wednesday whether he could confirm Gotion would be "eligible for taxpayer funding, and eligible for Inflation Reduction Act incentives," Cheng replied, "Yes."

"We are pretty confident [in] our activities in the U.S.," Cheng added.

An analysis conducted by business watchdog Good Jobs First estimated that Gotion's Illinois plant could receive more than $7 billion in IRA subsidies.

Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker offered Gotion hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives to build a battery manufacturing plant in the state.

"Gotion's new EV lithium battery manufacturing plant is coming to our state — the largest EV battery investment here EVER at $2 billion. It will create 2,600 good-paying jobs and help our goal of putting 1M EVs on our roads by 2030," Pritzker wrote on X.

When asked to comment on critics' security concerns regarding the company's ties to the CCP, Pritzker's spokesperson told Chicago Business, "Many companies with Chinese ties have manufacturing facilities in the United States, and many U.S. companies have manufacturing facilities in China."

"Gotion Inc. is actually headquartered in California and is majority-owned by Volkswagen. The deal is strictly business; it creates jobs and brings billions in investment to Illinois, cementing our future as a leader in the EV space," the spokesperson added.

The company previously told Politico that the CCP has "no presence" in Gotion Inc.

The Treasury Department, Gotion Inc., and Gotion High-Tech did not respond to requests for comment from the DCNF.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!