US transport chief challenges Ford over CATL licensing at Michigan battery plant
The US Transportation Department has asked Ford to step back from its Chinese technology partners, singling out the licensed CATL battery technology used at Ford's Marshall, Michigan plant.
- 1,700
- billions of dollars
- September 3, 2026
- 2030
What Happened
The U.S. Department of Transportation has pressed Ford to step back from its Chinese technology partners. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy made the request in a letter to Ford chief executive James Farley dated September 3, 2026, saying the department was still uneasy about Ford's use of technology licensed from CATL, the Chinese battery manufacturer, at the BlueOval Battery Park plant in Marshall, Michigan. The letter acknowledged that the site is already running and has built its first lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, but argued that leaning on Chinese know-how and technical staff, even on a reduced scale, works against American security and supply-chain independence policy. Duffy also flagged other China-linked arrangements, which Ford rejected five days later.
“DOT remains deeply alarmed by Ford's continued reliance on licensed technology from Chinese battery manufacturer CATL at the operational BlueOval Battery Park facility in Marshall, Michigan.”
Ford answered with a statement published on September 8, 2026. The company said the Marshall site is owned and run by Ford itself, that it stands for billions of dollars of investment and roughly 1,700 new jobs for American workers, and that its batteries are made in Michigan by American employees for Ford vehicles that are also assembled in the United States. Ford characterized the CATL arrangement as a licensing and services deal of narrow scope rather than a joint venture, and said the plant is not foreign-owned: Ford holds it, directs operations, and employs the workforce.
- A Geely joint venture based in Spain, which the letter says hands strategic rivals a foothold in Western markets.
- Ongoing talks with BYD over parts for hybrid vehicles, which the letter warns could embed subsidized foreign technology deeper into Ford's supply chain.
- A proposal for Chinese joint ventures on U.S. soil, discussed around the Detroit show.
- A decision to push back the return of Lincoln models such as the Nautilus to US production until 2030.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy signs a letter to Ford CEO James Farley urging the automaker to reduce its reliance on Chinese technology partners.
Ford releases a statement defending the BlueOval plant and describing the CATL arrangement as licensing, not a joint venture.
News outlets report on the exchange between the department and the automaker.
1,700
Ford says the Marshall plant represents billions of dollars of investment and about this many new US jobs.
Why this matters
The letter shows national-security policy toward Chinese battery technology being applied directly to one automaker's factory. Ford's roughly 1,700 workers in Marshall and the company's supply-chain choices are at stake, and the dispute is public: Washington questions the licensing behind the site while Ford insists the plant is American-owned and American-staffed.
Terms in This Story
- LFP
- Lithium iron phosphate, a lithium-ion battery chemistry that uses iron phosphate in the cathode rather than nickel and cobalt.
- joint venture
- A business arrangement in which two or more companies create and share ownership of a separate operation.
- reshoring
- Moving manufacturing that had been shifted abroad back to a company's home country.
- supply chain
- The network of suppliers and production steps that turn raw materials into a finished product.
A brief summary; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.