WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) joined House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and others in sending two letters to the Department of Homeland Security, which revealed shocking new evidence implicating major Chinese battery manufacturers, Gotion and CATL, in Chinese Communist Party state-sponsored slave labor and the ongoing Uyghur genocide. Despite CATL and Gotion holding these ties to Chinese paramilitary organizations and state-sponsored slave labor programs, the companies have operated and expanded their presence in the United States.

House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), House Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, and Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) joined the effort.

Products made with Uyghur forced labor are strictly prohibited from entering the United States. The Department of Homeland Security maintains a Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List to enforce the prohibition. Companies that have engaged in forced labor are placed on the list and blacklisted from the United States.

Chairman Moolenaar said, “The Select Committee has uncovered indisputable evidence that Gotion High Tech and CATL have supply chains that are deeply connected to forced labor and the ongoing genocide of Uyghurs in China. That is why the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force must immediately add Gotion High Tech and CATL to the UFLPA Entity List and block the shipments of these companies from entering the United States. The American people expect companies in the U.S. to avoid all involvement with the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign of genocide.”

To protect American taxpayers and U.S. companies from being tainted by the grave human rights abuses of Gotion and CATL, Chairman Moolenaar demanded that the Department of Homeland Security immediately blacklist Gotion and CATL. In the letters, the lawmakers provide newfound evidence, documenting the horrific ties between Gotion, CATL, Chinese paramilitary organizations, slave labor, and the Uyghur genocide. Some examples include:

CATL

GOTION

Gotion sources aluminum foil from a subsidiary of Xinjiang Nonferrous, a CCP state-owned enterprise known for its prolific use of forced labor, including forced housing of Han men with Uyghur women and families.

Gotion sources material from Xinjiang Joinworld, a company that participated in ‘poverty alleviation through labor transfer.’ These programs are often a disguise for forced labor. A local CCP chapter even awarded a Xinjiang Joinworld employee an award for implementing the CCP’s ethnic policies.

Gotion sources lithium-ion and other materials from companies with deep connections to XPCC, the sanctioned Chinese paramilitary organization that contributes to the Uyghur genocide.

The lawmakers requested an immediate briefing if for some reason DHS determines to not place CATL and Gotion on the blacklist.

Read the letter on CATL HERE.

Read the letter on Gotion HERE.

Background: 

Earlier this week, Subcommittee Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) introduced the Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act, legislation to prohibit the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from procuring batteries from six companies owned and operated in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and advance efforts to decouple the supply chain from the United States’ geopolitical adversary. He was joined by Committee Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN), Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX), and Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI). 

The PRC produces approximately 80 percent of the world’s batteries and around 70 percent of the world’s lithium-ion batteries. The Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Actwould prevent DHS from procuring batteries from six Chinese companies that are closely linked to the CCP, including: Contemporary Amperex Technology Company, Ltd. (CATL); BYD Company, Ltd; Envision Energy, Ltd; EVE Energy Company, Ltd; Hithium Energy Storage Technology company, Ltd; and Gotion High-Tech Company, Ltd. 

In October 2023, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability, led by Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC), held a hearing to evaluate the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) abuse of the Uyghur people, particularly through the enforcement of the UFLPA. Witness testimony highlighted the ways in which DHS’s enforcement of the UFLPA falls short in preventing the importation of goods from the Xinjiang region of China into the United States, and the proactive approach DHS must take to combat the exploitation of Uyghur forced labor in China and protect American manufacturers and workers. Witnesses testified to the horrors of the CCP’S abuses against the Uyghur people, the exploitation of loopholes in DHS enforcement, and the negative effects on domestic producers. 

In a January 2024 hearing on UFLPA enforcement, Subcommittee Chairman Bishop said, “This is an economic, strategic, and moral issue, and the UFLPA marked a significant step towards countering China’s predatory and exploitative practices. Unfortunately, China’s use of forced labor in global supply chains continues to pose a significant enforcement challenge across a wide range of economic sectors, including textiles, minerals, and seafood.”

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