Battle Creek Times

Joseph Cella, director of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, has expressed concerns regarding the Ford-CATL partnership. He said that the Treasury should deny credits tied to this partnership to reduce reliance on China and protect U.S. innovation in Marshall, as reported in a statement on X.

"Unless the Treasury Department acts, this arrangement will be eligible for federal tax credits, which will effectively send taxpayer dollars to Beijing," said Cella. "Treasury must deny these credits, forcing Ford to onshore true American innovation. From the project's public announcement in 2023, the ‘deal' has reeked of compromise. The Marshall revival is a clarion call for federal action."

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the federal clean-vehicle credit (30D) will exclude electric vehicles (EVs) with battery components from a "foreign entity of concern" starting in 2024 and critical minerals from such entities in 2025. The Treasury's final rule for May 2024 references the Department of Energy's guidance on foreign entities of concern (FEOC), which clarifies that certain licensing or contractual rights can equate to "effective control." This is directly relevant to any Ford-CATL arrangement at Marshall.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) states that under current law, the output from the Marshall plant could qualify for the Inflation Reduction Act’s Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit. This includes $35 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for battery cells and $10 per kWh for modules, or $45 per kWh for cell-less modules, with options to transfer the credit or use elective pay.

According to the Department of Defense (DoD), Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) was added on January 7, 2025, to its Section 1260H list of "Chinese military companies." While this does not impose sanctions directly, it increases diligence requirements for U.S. partners assessing FEOC exposure and incentive eligibility.

Cella is a former U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu from 2019 to 2021. He co-founded the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group and works on China-related economic security issues. These roles are detailed in his House Oversight witness biography according to information from the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group was founded in 2023 by Ambassadors Joseph Cella and Peter Hoekstra. Its mission is to monitor, assess, counteract, and report on People's Republic of China/Chinese Communist Party sub-national incursions affecting Michigan’s economy and security—including EV supply chain exposure—through research and testimony as said in materials from the Michigan House.