Xi-Trump summit: Ford-CATL battery plant shows how global carmakers need China’s prowess

A Ford Motor electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the US state of Michigan, edging closer to inauguration, has shed light on global marques’ reliance on Chinese technologies to accelerate their EV transition amid US President Donald Trump’s state visit to Beijing.With trade and investment among the top issues on the agenda for the summit between Trump and President Xi Jinping, the US$3 billion facility, with a capacity of more than 400,000 EVs a year, has heightened expectations for similar deals that would allow Chinese technologies to play a vital role in reviving America’s once-booming manufacturing industries.Ford and China’s EV battery king Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) announced the Michigan" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="127005" data-entity-type="location">BlueOval Battery Park Michigan in 2023, only to see the deal draw strong opposition from local residents and lawmakers due to frayed China-relations" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="110704" data-entity-type="event">US-China relations. CATL, as a technology and service provider to the project, is only involved in manufacturing operations, with Ford fully owning the facility.