Chairmen Green, Moolenaar, Gimenez Issue Statement on DHS Blacklisting Major Supplier of CCP-Aligned Gotion & CATL Battery Companies

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN), Select Committee on House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI), and Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) released the following statement following news that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force has placed two Chinese companies, which are tied to both CATL and Gotion, on its forced labor entity list. CATL and Gotion are Chinese Communist Party-affiliated electric vehicle battery companies with plans to build and operate new facilities in the United States, partially financed by federal and state taxpayer dollars.

"While we are pleased with this initial step, we remain concerned that CATL and Gotion's supply chains are deeply tied to the Xinjiang region. It is past time to stop spending taxpayer dollars partnering with Gotion and CATL. American companies should cut ties with these Chinese Communist Party-aligned battery companies and focus on developing a resilient supply chain free of forced labor. The Biden-Harris Administration rules that would allow American taxpayer dollars to subsidize Chinese batteries tainted by slave labor must also be reversed. Additionally, we must advance our bipartisan legislation, the Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependency Act, to not only eradicate forced labor from U.S. supply chains, but to reduce our dependency on China."

Background:

In June, the Committees, along with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), exposed CATL and Gotion's connections to two companies heavily involved in forced labor-Xinjiang Nonferrous and Xinjiang Joinworld. Today, DHS' Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force placed both companies on the forced labor entity list, which immediately prohibits the import of these two companies' products and any product tied to their supply chains.

In September, the House passed Subcommittee Chairman Gimenez's Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act, legislation to prohibit DHS from procuring batteries from six companies owned and operated in the People's Republic of China (PRC), including CATL and Gotion, and advance efforts to decouple the supply chain from the United States' geopolitical adversary. He was joined by Chairman Green, Chairman Moolenaar, and Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX).

In October 2023, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability, led by Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC), held a hearing to evaluate DHS' efforts to counter the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) abuse of the Uyghur people, particularly through the enforcement of the UFLPA. Witness testimony highlighted the ways in which DHS's enforcement of the UFLPA falls short in preventing the importation of goods from the Xinjiang region of China into the United States, and the proactive approach DHS must take to combat the exploitation of Uyghur forced labor in China and protect American manufacturers and workers. Witnesses testified to the horrors of the CCP's abuses against the Uyghur people, the exploitation of loopholes in DHS enforcement, and the negative effects on domestic producers.

In a January 2024 hearing on UFLPA enforcement, Subcommittee Chairman Bishop said, "This is an economic, strategic, and moral issue, and the UFLPA marked a significant step towards countering China's predatory and exploitative practices. Unfortunately, China's use of forced labor in global supply chains continues to pose a significant enforcement challenge across a wide range of economic sectors, including textiles, minerals, and seafood."

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