What if the biggest foreign influence in your car isn’t visible on the badge? Americans are being warned that Chinese automotive technology can create national-security risks, yet some of the world’s biggest automakers increasingly rely on Chinese companies for batteries, software, components and manufacturing. Now Washington is warning Ford about that dependence while Congress considers restrictions on foreign technology and greater consumer control over vehicle data. Something doesn’t add up.
On Sept. 8, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent Ford CEO Jim Farley a letter criticizing the company’s growing reliance on China. Duffy cited Ford’s use of licensed technology from Chinese battery manufacturer CATL at its BlueOval Battery Park in Michigan, its partnership with China’s Geely Auto in Spain and plans to delay reshoring some Lincoln models until 2030. His message was clear: American companies shouldn’t become increasingly dependent on strategic competitors for critical technology and manufacturing.
Ford isn’t alone. Toyota has worked with BYD, Volkswagen has partnered with XPeng, Mercedes-Benz has ties to Geely, BMW has worked with Great Wall Motor, Stellantis has a strategic partnership with Leapmotor and Mazda has partnered with China’s Changan Automobile. Volvo is majority-owned by Geely Holding. These relationships don’t automatically make a vehicle dangerous, but they reveal how deeply Chinese companies are embedded in the global automotive industry. A car doesn’t have to be Chinese-built to contain significant Chinese technology, which means asking whether a vehicle is “American made” doesn’t tell consumers the whole story.
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