The construction project of a Chinese battery factory has become a hot topic in the Michigan Senate seat race in the United States, with both party candidates accusing each other of ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This reflects widespread concerns among Michigan voters about the CCP’s influence on the U.S. economy and politics.
On August 21, Republican Senatorial candidate Mike Rogers, along with Congressman John Moolenaar and other GOP officials, gathered in Green Charter Township in Michigan to protest the construction plan of Gotion Inc., a subsidiary of Gotion High-Tech, a Chinese company. Rogers and his Republican colleagues have been running ads accusing Democratic Senatorial candidate Elissa Slotkin of involvement with the Gotion project, while Slotkin and her Democratic allies have been running ads accusing Rogers of ties to the Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
It was reported that Gotion Inc. signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) in December 2021 to build an electric vehicle battery factory in Michigan. The project includes state subsidies of $175 million and 30 years of tax breaks, with an investment of nearly $2.4 billion and the creation of 2,350 jobs in the region.
Critics have raised concerns about the potential environmental impact of the Gotion battery factory, as well as vigilance regarding its substantial state subsidies and its relationship with the CCP.
Gotion Inc., founded in 2014 and headquartered in California, is a subsidiary of Gotion High-Tech Energy Co., Ltd., established in Anhui, China in 2006. The operational rules of Chinese companies mandate compliance with CCP leadership, and in recent years, the CCP’s influence on Chinese businesses has strengthened. Heifei Gotion High-Tech is also implicated in participating in forced labor programs targeting Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
The automotive manufacturing industry is a key sector in Michigan. Mike Pompeo, former CIA Director and Secretary of State under the Trump administration, considers the Gotion project in Michigan “very dangerous to our national security.”
Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense during the Obama administration, warned at the Democratic National Convention in August that “they (the CCP) undoubtedly will take advantage of (building factories in the U.S.),” urging vigilance to ensure cooperation and development projects do not compromise U.S. national security.
John Moolenaar, current Chairman of the Senate Committee on U.S.-China Strategic Competition, held a hearing in Congress on the Gotion deal in January this year.
At the hearing, Panetta stated: “I think we need to keep a high degree of vigilance on what’s happening.”
Former President Donald Trump publicly criticized the Gotion project on his Truth Social media platform on August 20, calling it “very bad for America,” expressing 100% opposition to the project and warning that it would “place Michiganders under the control of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing.”
Gotion’s management contends that its U.S. operations have no relations with the CCP and voluntarily undergoes financial reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). However, such a review has not been conducted as CFIUS deemed the project outside its jurisdiction.
Last year, Congressman Moolenaar introduced the “No Gotion Act,” which explicitly prohibits Gotion and other companies with ties to foreign adversaries from receiving federal tax breaks under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Senator Slotkin, along with Congressman Blake Moore and Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters from Michigan, introduced separate legislation to empower the federal government to review large collaborative projects and procurement endeavors with foreign governments.
Gotion submitted amendments to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) with discrepancies from previous disclosures in July, indicating partial subsidies from the CCP government, sparking further criticism.
In November last year, Green Charter Township residents voted to recall five township board members who signed the Gotion project, replacing them with candidates opposing the project. However, the new board members have so far been unable to halt the project’s progress.
Gotion and the new board are currently embroiled in a legal dispute, with the company accusing the township board of violating the development agreement previously signed.
To date, Gotion is winning this legal battle. Earlier this August, a federal judge upheld an injunction to prevent town officials from intervening in the development agreement signed with the former board.
Gotion expects its new battery plant to start operations in 2026.
Rogers, with Michigan GOP Chairman Pete Hoekstra and other Republican groups, have criticized the lack of transparency in the Gotion project and other economic development deals in Michigan.
When seeking the Gotion plant deal in Michigan, dozens of legislators from both parties signed NDAs with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, including former Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and current House Minority Leader Matt Hall.
Rogers, with the national Republican Senate committee, has launched TV ads over the past week targeting Congressman Slotkin, accusing her of “signing a secret agreement to help a Chinese company.”
The Bridge Michigan newspaper obtained a copy of the secret agreement through the Freedom of Information Act. The report revealed that Slotkin did sign an NDA involving potential economic development projects in her district, but the specific mention of Gotion Inc. was absent, and the Gotion project is not within her district.
After Gotion signed an NDA with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in December 2021, Slotkin, among other bipartisan legislators, also signed NDAs with the MEDC in January 2022, reportedly prohibiting them from discussing certain projects.
Republicans accusing Slotkin pointed to a Fox News report earlier this year, which revealed that Slotkin added an amendment to her NDA signed in January, extending the confidentiality terms to “any potential development projects confirmed by the MEDC as confidential.”
The Bridge Michigan reported that NDAs are traditionally used to prohibit discussion and disclosure of potential projects still under negotiation, while the Gotion battery project was publicly announced by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in October 2022.
In a speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 16, Rogers accused Slotkin of “colluding with the CCP” and supporting an energy policy that “destroys American jobs” because “manufacturing electric vehicles requires 40% less labor than fuel vehicles,” and “85% of the key minerals needed for electric vehicles are processed in China.”
Rogers said, “Without working with the CCP, it is impossible to manufacture electric cars. My opponent even signed an agreement to bring a Chinese battery company to Michigan with taxpayer money.”
Slotkin’s spokesperson Antoine Givens refuted Rogers’ claims last week, stating that Slotkin “never signed any agreements related to the Gotion project or with the Chinese (CCP) government,” and any insinuations to the contrary are “completely unfounded attacks.”
Givens also highlighted Slotkin’s background as a national security expert, emphasizing her efforts in Congress to counter the CCP’s influence in critical supply chains, automotive (including connected vehicles), as well as agriculture and real estate industries.
In a statement, he said, “As a national security expert, Representative Slotkin works to protect America from foreign threats.”
Slotkin’s campaign team and Democratic groups claim that Rogers’ post-Congress work in the telecom field benefits China and jeopardizes U.S. national security. In a recent campaign ad, Slotkin accused Rogers of “helping Chinese tech companies enter the United States.”
In pushing back against Rogers on the Gotion project, Slotkin’s spokesperson Givens also stated, “This is a desperate attempt to rewrite Mike Rogers’ history of profiting from companies linked to China.”
According to a fact-check by PolitiFact on August 23, Slotkin’s team’s claim against Rogers was deemed false.
When leaving Congress, Rogers worked as a consultant for AT&T and Nokia, two telecom tech companies scrutinized for their connections to Huawei, a Chinese telecom giant closely linked to the CCP.
PolitiFact’s verification concluded: “Rogers worked at AT&T when the company was seeking agreements with several Chinese phone companies to sell their equipment in the U.S. But AT&T stated that Rogers had no involvement in these business decisions, and there is no evidence he was involved.”
Rogers’ campaign team also denied any ties between Rogers and Huawei or another Chinese tech company, ZTE, and stated that Rogers had investigated both companies during his congressional tenure.
Slotkin and Rogers emerged victorious in their party primaries on August 6, securing their respective party nominations. Both parties are pouring significant resources into the battle for the Senate seat left vacant following Senator Stabenow’s retirement, as Michigan is among the few battleground states that could determine control of the U.S. Senate in the upcoming elections.
So far, Slotkin holds a slight advantage in polls and has a significant fundraising edge. Since announcing her candidacy last year, Slotkin has raised over $16 million, with a campaign finance update in early April showing she has $8.6 million cash on hand. In contrast, Rogers had only raised $2.9 million by the end of March this year.
Nevertheless, national GOP groups are increasingly backing Rogers’ campaign, seeing an opportunity to win the Senate seat in Michigan, which the GOP has not held since 1994.
In June, the Senate GOP campaign arm announced a $100 million ad campaign in several key swing states, including Michigan, leading up to the 2024 election day. According to media tracking company AdImpact, national GOP groups have earmarked over $14 million in ad spending post-primary and pre-general election.
Democrats have also secured extensive ad buys for the Senate race in Michigan. According to AdImpact, the Senate Democrat campaign arm has reserved nearly $10 million in ad spending for Michigan, while their political action committee (PAC) has allocated an additional $17 million for ads.
Ads booked up to the November election day cover media markets in Detroit, Big Rapids, Traverse City, and Flint, spanning broadcast, cable, and digital platforms.
With the race intensifying, Slotkin and Rogers’ final showdown may hold unpredictable outcomes. Fred Upton, a former Republican Congressman from Michigan, remarked, “This election will continue until the very end. From a head-to-head perspective, it will be a battle of heavyweights.”
The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan professional election analysis organization, recently categorized Michigan’s Senate race as “Too Close to Call.”