The Trump administration has accused Ford of putting American economic security at risk through a series of business deals with Chinese companies, in a dispute that has erupted just before a scheduled meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In a letter to Ford chief executive Jim Farley dated September 3 and recently made public, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said he had «profound concern» about the «strategic trajectory of Ford», claiming the historic carmaker is «actively intertwining its future with Chinese state-backed enterprises».
At the centre of the row is Ford's licensing agreement with Chinese battery giant CATL, first signed in 2023, which would have allowed the company to manufacture electric vehicle batteries using CATL's chemistry. A recent decline in US demand for EVs prompted Ford to scale back those plans and begin assembling lithium-iron phosphate cells using CATL technology for energy storage systems instead.
Duffy argued that even this reduced arrangement undermines American policy. «The prioritization of imported Chinese technical expertise and operational know-how – even in a scaled-back capacity – challenges the spirit of American national and economic security and supply-chain independence policies,» he wrote.
The transportation secretary also criticised Ford's recent deal with Geely in Spain, saying it «helps strategic adversaries secure a vital foothold in Western markets». His letter further addressed ongoing talks between Ford and BYD over the sharing of hybrid vehicle components.
«When a company intentionally chooses to deepen operational dependencies on strategic competitors, it fails to act as the reliable partner the American public and this DOT require,» Duffy added.
Ford responded swiftly and forcefully, describing the letter as «a wrongheaded attempt to capture headlines at the expense of a company that has done more for American manufacturing than virtually any other in the nation's history».
The company pointed to its BlueOval Battery Park Michigan facility in Marshall, which it said is Ford-owned and Ford-operated and represents billions of dollars in investment and approximately 1,700 new American jobs. Ford noted that the plant is «producing batteries in Michigan, with American workers, for Ford vehicles also built in America».
The exchange highlights the tension facing global carmakers as they try to balance the cost and technology advantages of Chinese partnerships against growing political pressure in Washington to reduce reliance on strategic competitors. Ford has long marketed itself as «the most American automaker», a claim that makes the administration's criticism particularly pointed.
For the wider automotive industry, the letter signals that supply-chain decisions once treated as commercial matters are increasingly being assessed through a national security lens. Companies weighing similar licensing or component-sharing agreements with Chinese firms now face the prospect of public rebuke from senior US officials.
The timing adds a diplomatic dimension. The dispute has surfaced shortly before Trump is due to meet Xi, when trade and technology tensions between the two countries are already high on the agenda. Ford's deals with CATL, Geely and BYD could therefore become part of a broader political conversation about how far Western manufacturers should be permitted to integrate Chinese technology into their operations.
Ford has given no indication that it intends to abandon its existing arrangements, and its public statement focused on its American investment record rather than addressing Duffy's specific concerns about China. The administration, for its part, has not said whether the letter will be followed by any policy action.
What is clear is that the episode has sharpened the debate over where the line should be drawn between commercial pragmatism and economic security, and that one of America's most iconic manufacturers now finds itself at the centre of it.