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2/12/2025 1:33:02 AM
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Youngkin Felt Rejected Ford Battery Plant Deal Was 'Deceptive' Effort to Dodge Intent of Inflation Reduction Act


Youngkin Felt Rejected Ford Battery Plant Deal Was 'Deceptive' Effort to Dodge Intent of Inflation Reduction Act

RICHMOND, Virginia – – Guv Glenn Youngkin stated Thursday that he felt that Ford's collaboration with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) to build a battery factory potentially sited in Virginia seemed like an effort to evade the intent behind the Inflation Reduction Act, and implicated The Richmond Times-Dispatch of neglecting facts in reporting on his decision to block the financial advancement chance from moving forward in the Commonwealth.

" It was a consortium, as reported and confirmed by Ford, where Ford would develop the structure but a company that is majorly influenced by the Chinese Communist Party was going to run the plant and the workers are going to work for the Chinese Communist Party-controlled business," the governor stated in response to a question about the deal at a press conference on an unrelated subject.

" Second of all, they were going to utilize that in order to try to take advantage of taxpayer benefits at the federal level that were specifically designated for non-Chinese Communist Party entities. And as an outcome, when the procedure to propose Ford to come here, which had actually not been chosen, concerned me, I felt this was entirely inconsistent with the way taxpayer money should be utilized, and I seemed like it was a bit deceptive, the method they had actually structured it," he said.

Youngkin stated that with those concerns, he didn't wish to tie up the website for a prospective deal.

In December, Bloomberg reported that Virginia and Michigan were under consideration for the factory and that the Ford-CATL partnership "would let the center qualify for profitable production tax credits under the new Inflation Reduction Act while needing no direct monetary investment from CATL."

That month, an anonymous source told The Daily Caller that Youngkin had blocked Virginia from factor to consider for the factory. On Monday, January 16, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the plant would have created 2,500 jobs in southside Virginia.

On Thursday morning prior to journalism conference, the paper reported that Ford had actually informed Virginia that it had actually already selected a Virginia mega-site for the task prior to Youngkin obstructed it in December, according to two anonymous sources.

The Times said, "Youngkin stated those realities are ‘‘ fundamentally wrong,' but consistently refused to answer whether anybody had actually informed him Ford had actually selected Virginia."

At the Thursday press conference, Youngkin consistently criticized The Times to media, consisting of a Times education reporter.

Not a single proposition had actually been made to Ford, and I felt it was inconsistent with what Virginia needs to utilize taxpayer money for. The Richmond Times-Dispatch selected to overlook the truths and write a story that is truly based on hearsay due to the fact that they have a program, and I'm disappointed in that extremely much," Youngkin said.

After Youngkin's interview, The Times updated the article: "A spokesperson for Ford Motor Company said Thursday that the business had not made a site choice decision on its plans for an electric car battery plant in collaboration with a Chinese business."

On Thursday afternoon, Ford spokeswoman Melissa Miller told The Virginia Star in an e-mail, "I'm restricted in what I can share due to the private nature of the website selection procedures, however I can inform you that the reporting you referral isn't accurate; Ford has not made a website selection decision. Beyond that, our talks with CATL, the world's leading battery manufacturer, continue. In 2015, Ford revealed an MOU [memorandum of understanding] with CATL to explore their providing batteries for Ford cars and said that we plan to localize the production of LFP [lithium-ferro-phosphate] batteries in North America. We have nothing new to reveal on either front at this time."

Lawmakers React


At a Thursday House of Delegates session, House Minority Leader Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) criticized Youngkin's decision.

" This is the natural outcome of someone putting their ambition before their duty. If you do not like the offer, Governor, you're a businessman you declare, change the offer," Scott said.

Home Majority Leader Terry Kilgore (R-Scott) echoed Youngkin's criticism of The Times and defended Youngkin's decision.

" If we had won this, our only megasite right now in Virginia could have been held up and tied up for several years due to the fact that we wouldn't have actually understood if we 'd gotten a legitimate business deal out of this because of the federal dollars that were going to be needed to deal with this," he stated.

State Senator Frank Ruff (R-Mecklenberg), who represents part of the region that would have gained from the tasks at the site, told The Star, "We would have been pleased to have those tasks, but there was no assurance we were going to get it."

Ruff stated that he and Youngkin had pursued a possible handle Hyundai to use the mega-site however that Hyundai had actually chosen Georgia. He said that now there are other companies considering the website, but he couldn't go over details.

" That's a private circumstance but I believe that 2,500 jobs would be nice. 8,000 tasks would be good. With Hyundai and their suppliers it could have been up to 17,000 jobs," Ruff stated.

State Senator Bill Stanley (R-Franklin) also represents the area.

" We have a history of Chinese, CCP-owned companies letting us down in Southside and southwest Virginia," Stanley told The Star. "I think the Governor is the chief executive, he makes these choices for our financial vigor. I trust him with that, and rather honestly, I do not think that we need to have a company owned by the Chinese Communist Party, a celebration that wants to do the United States damage, I don't believe we need them in Southside and southwest Virginia."

Some Democrats have actually recommended Youngkin's recent rhetoric against China belongs to messaging ahead of a prospective governmental run.

" It's not a nationwide issue," Stanley said. "This is a Virginia concern and I believe he made the best choice."

" The Democrats have voted versus every expense that would protect Virginia versus Chinese infiltration and the stealing of Virginia's trade tricks. They voted that down. Possibly they like China so much they desire China to be in Virginia. Perhaps you need to inquire about that," he stated.

State Senator Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) informed The Star, "So Halifax County has an average family earnings that's 50 percent of the state of Virginia, about 30 percent of Fairfax County, and about a quarter of what the typical Loudoun County household earns. It's an area of our state that desperately requires jobs and financial development."

" The guv was CEO of a company that has actually done a great deal of organization in China, and he didn't seem to have a problem with it when he was making the $400 million he now has. And I would presume, given that he was the CEO, he's quite creative at making business deals. And I discover it difficult to believe that he could not find out a way to make this deal work," he said.

" The only possible explanation I see for his conduct is that Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott are presently in a race to bash China as much as they can to get attention in a Republican governmental main, and I'm stunned that the governor would prioritize those sort of issues over enhancing the lives of rural Virginians who really need the assistance," he stated.

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Elwood Hill
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Elwood Hill

Elwood Hill is an award-winning journalist with more than 18 years' of experience in the industry. Throughout his career, John has worked on a variety of different stories and assignments including national politics, local sports, and international business news. Elwood graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and immediately began working for Breaking Now News as lead journalist.

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