Republicans tromping across the battleground state of Michigan are fanning fears of China’s influence over an electric vehicle supply chain critical to the auto industry. From the presidential race to House and Senate contests, GOP candidates are using a proposed $2.4 billion battery plant sponsored by a Chinese battery company to make the case that the United States’ biggest economic rival is extending its influence over critical technology to the American Midwest — and that that should be treated as a security threat. Now, even Michigan Democrats who had touted the project as a source of jobs in the state’s rural western part are starting to distance themselves from Gotion, the U.S. subsidiary of Chinese battery company Gotion High-tech, writes Hannah Northey. “To me, until there’s a national security vetting, I don’t love the idea of moving forward on any project or any sale of farmland” to a Chinese entity, Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin told reporters last week. She is locked in a tight Senate race with former Rep. Mike Rogers to replace Debbie Stabenow. Whether the battery plant gets up and running in the nation’s automotive hub could have implications for the Biden-Harris administration’s electric car goals, which envision that half of all new vehicles sold in the United States would be emissions-free by 2030. Federal tax incentives meant to help consumers afford electric cars are also designed to encourage auto companies to develop U.S.-based supply chains. China dominates the market for EV battery materials and technology. Gotion has not disclosed whether it plans to pursue federal funding included in the Inflation Reduction Act, a possibility that has enraged some Republican critics. “Kamala Harris doesn't just want to allow the Communist Chinese Party to build factories on American soil, she wants to pay them to do it with our tax money,” Sen. JD Vance, the Republican candidate for vice president, said at a recent rally near the factory site. Republican Rep. John Moolenaar, who is expected to win reelection in Michigan’s 2nd District, which is home to the Gotion plant, has waged a monthslong campaign to investigate and blacklist China-linked EV battery companies such as Gotion. Some Democrats, on the other hand, argue the plant is going to create much-needed jobs. "Electric vehicle manufacturing, including the batteries and parts that go in them, is a key component of the future of auto manufacturing. These jobs are getting created. The question is, are they going to exist in China or are they going to exist in America,” said Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten, the front-runner in a tight race for Michigan’s 3rd District with Republican attorney Paul Hudson. "We're not going to turn away jobs based on a bunch of hyped-up, tinfoil-hat theories,” she told Hannah.
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