Ford Motor Company will make history by importing its next generation Lincoln Nautilus from China — the first time ever to do so. The move comes as backlash mounts against a planned Ford plant in Marshall, Michigan, that involves China’s premier electric vehicle battery supplier.
This month, Ford executives announced that the Lincoln Nautilus will be made in China and imported to sell to Americans in the United States. Previously, the SUV was made in Ontario, Canada before being shipped to the U.S. market for sale.
It makes the first time in Ford’s history that Lincoln will manufacture a vehicle in China and send it to the U.S. to be sold. The announcement has experts calling for President Joe Biden, and Congress, to increase U.S. tariffs on vehicles made in China.
Currently, those tariffs sit at about 25 percent. Industry experts said the Ford announcement shows higher U.S. tariffs are necessary to protect American auto workers and domestic industry from being forced to compete against subsidized, China-made vehicles.
“25% tariffs on China built autos not enough,” Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) CEO Michael Stumo wrote on Twitter. Dan DiMicco, who served on former President Trump’s trade transition team, suggested that U.S. tariffs on China-made vehicles be raised to 50 percent.
“Don’t think this is the kind of ‘history’ Americans want to see from a historic [American] auto manufacturer,” CPA’s Nick Iacovella wrote on Twitter of Ford’s announcement.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s administration has remained silent on the announcement just as officials have largely kept quiet as Ford seeks to partner with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) to build a $3.4 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Marshall.
As Breitbart News reported in February, CATL CEO Zeng Yuqun has deep ties to the CCP. Yuqun is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee — a high-ranking CCP advisory body that serves as a central component of the party’s “United Front” efforts.
China’s “United Front” efforts, as the federal government has detailed, are considered to be a front for CCP intelligence operations overseas.
This week, local electeds in Marshall will hear from community members about the planned Ford-CATL plant. Many oppose the plant because they say the residents have not been consulted in any way while Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) brags about throwing millions in taxpayer-funded subsidies to the project.
The planned Ford-CATL plant seemingly comes as Ford shuttered its plant in the small town of Romeo, Michigan, which served as the region’s largest employer. Now, those 600 American auto workers have been left with having to be placed at other Ford plants.
