A Chinese battery manufacturer that has been awarded a $2 billion contract to operate a plant in Kankakee County is facing accusations that it uses forced labor and that it is connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
According to a letter signed by Rep. Darin LaHood and other members of the House Committees on the Chinese Communist Party, Intelligence and Homeland Security, Gotion is accused of using forced labor and should be investigated for possible violations of a law prohibiting the importation of products produced by such means.
“As companies linked to the CCP receive billions of taxpayer dollars in federal and state subsidies, we have an obligation to ensure they abide by federal law and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,” LaHood said in a statement.
Last September, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Gotion would locate its new $2 billion plant in Manteno, which is in northern Kankakee County. The proposed plant, which would be located within a former Kmart warehouse, would manufacture lithium batteries for electric vehicles.
At the time, the governor touted the creation of 2,600 new jobs and a significant manufacturing investment in Illinois, with more than $500 million in tax credits offered to the company by state officials.
In recent days, LaHood said House lawmakers’ investigation revealed new information about the entanglement of Gotion's supply chains in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The letter claims the company is perpetuating the genocide of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups.
Products made with Uyghur forced labor are strictly prohibited from entering the United States under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The Department of Homeland Security keeps a list of companies that have engaged in forced labor, according to officials.
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A statement obtained by Reuters from Gotion characterizes the assertions of the letter as “baseless and absolutely false”
Pritzker’s office responded to the allegations in a statement, saying:
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“We fully trust the federal government's review of the company and as a result, an industry leader with numerous breakthroughs in battery technology now calls our state home. We are proud to cement our status as a leader in the EV industry by bringing $2 billion in investment and 2,600 jobs to Illinois.”
The Gotion plant has also come under fire from some Manteno residents, with a nonprofit filing suit alleging the company misrepresented alleged ties to the CCP, and that those connections could pose a national security risk to the United States, according to reporting from The Center Square.
