State Rep. Sarah Lightner today renewed her call for Michigan to claw back taxpayer subsidies awarded to Ford for its BlueOval electric vehicle battery plant in Marshall, following new revelations that the federal government is blacklisting CATL, the Chinese battery manufacturer partnering with Ford on the project.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Defense included CATL on its 1260H list, which identifies firms operating in the U.S. that contribute to China’s military buildup or work on behalf of its military. Companies on this list are barred from entering into Defense Department contracts, and their inclusion serves as a strong warning to American businesses about the risks of partnering with entities that may undermine U.S. national security.

“These latest developments underscore what I’ve been saying all along — projects like this require much stricter oversight,” said Lightner, R-Springport. “We must have safeguards in place to protect taxpayers from financial risks and national security threats. If a project is tanking, or it turns out to have ties to a questionable company, we need the ability to claw back those funds and redirect them to better uses.”

Lightner has consistently raised red flags about the lack of transparency and safeguards in the state’s handling of economic development incentives.

After Ford briefly paused the BlueOval project before deciding to move forward with a scaled-down facility, Lightner introduced several measures to ensure greater accountability for projects funded through the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund, which was used to subsidize the Marshall plant.

Among Lightner’s efforts:

• A $725.3 million negative supplemental appropriations plan to return previously allocated SOAR funds and related infrastructure funding for the Marshall project to the state’s general fund.
• Legislation to mandate annual audits of the SOAR fund.
• Proposals to establish automatic claw-back provisions requiring unspent funds to return to the general fund if a project is canceled or indefinitely paused.

Lightner said the Department of Defense’s blacklisting of CATL warrants a renewed effort to end the state’s involvement in the BlueOval project.

“This new federal action against CATL validates the concerns many of us have been raising for months,” Lightner said. “Michigan cannot afford to gamble with taxpayer money on a project linked to a company flagged for ties to the Chinese military. It’s time to claw back these funds and protect our economic and national security.”

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