Chinese Electric Vehicle Company Given Millions of Taxpayer Dollars for US Plant

September 13, 2023

This week, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) company announced plans to expand its U.S. operations into Illinois. Gotion Inc., whose parent company Gotion High-Tech is based in Hefei, China, unveiled plans to build a $2 billion lithium battery plant in Manteno, Illinois. The same company is facing backlash for its plans to build a factory in Mecosta County, Michigan.

Fox News reports, 

“And the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity said Gotion’s total incentive package from the state is valued at $536 million in taxpayer funds. Gotion is facing headwinds in Michigan as it continues to push ahead with another plant. That factory — announced in October 2022 and backed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — would manufacture battery components that would then be sent to the Illinois plant for final assembly.”

The Illinois plant is also facing criticism from residents, former State Department officials and Republicans who argue the plant is a national security risk. 

“Opponents of the project have particularly noted the company’s allegiance to the Chinese government and often pointed to Gotion High-Tech’s corporate bylaws, which state that the company is required to ‘”carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.”’ The company’s 2022 ESG report says Gotion High-Tech “carried out thematic education activities such as the study of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, red theme education and love for students,”’ The Midwesterner reported.”

The federal government has already handed out billions of green energy incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act to the Chinese Community Party, and now we see states giving them millions. Our recent report, Where Green Meets Red, explores how the eco-left’s environmental agenda makes America dependent on China. Our federal and local governments need to be more aware of China’s control over producing and processing energy minerals required to build renewable machinery.