The US Department of Defence (DOD) has included Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) to its list of “Chinese military companies”.
The move will prevent the company from fulfilling its offer to build a US factory if the forthcoming Trump administration changes its hostile attitude to Chinese investment.
It may also hit the Ford Motor Company’s project to build a battery plant in Michigan, which is to use CATL technology to produce low-cost lithium-ion batteries. This project is due to be completed next year.
CATL makes a third of the world’s EV batteries. It presently supplies Tesla, Peugeot, Hyundai, Honda, BMW, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.
The company has already faced a backlash in the US market.
Lawmakers have attacked Ford for its CATL tie up, and last February, Duke Energy, a US utility that serves more than 8 million customers, said it was phasing out the use of CATL batteries in favour of technology from a “domestic or allied nation supplier”.
The DOD’s list targets Chinese firms the US says are supplying the Chinese military. The department describes the move as a counter to the Communist Party’s “military-civil fusion strategy”.
Since 2021, the DOD has been required by law to keep track of military companies supplying the People’s Liberation Army with advanced technology and expertise. The list now includes 134 members, compared with 73 a year ago.
The department is prohibited from doing any business with companies on the list, and other US entities may voluntarily follow suit.
In 2024, Hesa, which makes laser sensors, and drone maker DJI sued the Pentagon over their inclusion. DJI complained of lost businesses and damaged reputation. Both companies remain on the list.
Most companies included operate in the sectors of AI, the internet of things, biotech, drones and shipping. The largest of these was tech giant Tencent.
In a statement to Reuters, the company said its inclusion was “clearly a mistake”.
“We are not a military company or supplier. Unlike sanctions or export controls, this listing has no impact on our business,” the statement said.
A number of companies on the list are major players in the construction space, including China Communications, train-maker CRRC, China State Construction Engineering, China National Nuclear, China General Nuclear Power and China Three Gorges.
Two construction companies were removed from the list. The DOD said China State Construction Group and China Railways Construction were removed because they did no business in the US.
The full list can be viewed here.
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