A leading Republican committee chairman has launched a review of Ford Motor Company's partnership with Chinese battery giant CATL, bringing election-year politics and sharp "robbery" rhetoric to the deal, which is crucial to Ford's electric vehicle development.

The agreement is a technology licensing deal for a Michigan plant, which critics argue is a channel for U.S. subsidies and technology to flow to Chinese competitors. This review reveals a growing bipartisan political stance between support for the resurgence of green manufacturing and a deepening skepticism towards any cooperation with China, particularly in strategic areas such as electric vehicle batteries.

This outcome could delay or alter one of Ford's key initiatives to catch up with its rivals in the electric vehicle race, forcing it to contend not only with market competition but also with an increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape where economic ties are being redefined as security threats. The investigation underscores the perilous path Western companies take to Chinese expertise to build domestic supply chains, as politicians view such partnerships as threats to national and economic security.Editor/Cao Tianyi