'Upset' Ford hits back at US transport secretary; says: Your letter is factually wrong
Ford has strongly refuted a letter from US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who criticized the automaker's ties with Chinese companies CATL and Geely for battery and vehicle manufacturing. Ford stated Duffy's letter was "factually wrong" and a "wrongheaded attempt to capture headlines," emphasizing its significant investment in American manufacturing and a limited technology licensing deal with CATL.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between US political pressure to decouple from China and the globalized supply chains of major industries like automotive, impacting manufacturing strategies, economic policy, and international relations.
The US transportation secretary Sean Duffy recently sent a letter to American car giant Ford asking the company to cut ties with CATL and Geely. The letter objects to the joint venture Ford is building with Geely at its plant in Valencia, Spain. Duffy wrote to Ford CEO Jim Farley on September 8, citing "profound concern". “When a company intentionally chooses to deepen operational dependencies on strategic competitors, it fails to act as the reliable partner the American public and this DOT require,” the letter said. The letter criticizes Ford's decision to continue manufacturing some Lincolns in China until 2030. It takes aim at Ford's technology licensing deal with CATL, under which the automaker is producing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries at a new plant in Michigan.
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