Ford Caught in Crossfire as Washington Splits Over China Auto Deals

Ford found itself at the centre of a widening Republican dispute this week, as the Trump administration and a key congressional panel sent sharply conflicting messages about the automaker's ties to Chinese companies.

The Republican-led House Select Committee on China criticised Ford in a social media post on Wednesday, accusing the company of warning about the threat posed by Chinese firms while simultaneously partnering with some of them. "This is what Ford says vs. what it does," the panel wrote.

The rebuke came less than a day after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter describing Ford's Chinese connections as "troubling." Ford pushed back, saying the secretary was seeking headlines.

Yet the same administration also offered praise. The White House said on X that Ford was a "great American company" that had invested in domestic production, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had lauded some of the very moves Duffy criticised only weeks earlier.

A Ford spokesman described the situation as "very puzzling," noting the company maintains a productive dialogue with the administration and that the letter "came out of left field."

The mixed signals reflect a broader debate over how Washington should respond to China's expanding role in the global auto industry. President Donald Trump has made shielding U.S. industry from Chinese competition and rebuilding domestic manufacturing central goals, but officials appear divided on where cooperation crosses a line.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has been among the most outspoken executives on the China threat, lobbying Congress to restrict Chinese automakers' access to the U.S. market on the grounds that state support gives them a cost advantage. He has warned that China has enough factory capacity to supply all of North America and drive U.S. automakers out of business.

At the same time, Farley has praised Chinese products, including an electric car from Xiaomi he discussed on a podcast in October 2024. Ford has also pursued deals with Chinese firms, beginning with a 2023 partnership with battery giant CATL to build cells in Michigan using CATL technology at a Ford-owned plant staffed by American workers. Two House committee chairs launched an investigation into that arrangement, and the factory began production this year.

In January, Duffy's letter said Farley raised the idea of joint ventures between Chinese and U.S. automakers at the Detroit Auto Show, a framework the secretary said would weaken the domestic industry. Ford denied proposing such a plan. In July, the company announced a partnership with China's Geely in Europe, drawing criticism from Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the House China committee. Ford responded that the European market is changing fast and requires every carmaker to become leaner and smarter.

The administration's own stance has shifted. In January, Trump said he was open to Chinese automakers building vehicles in the U.S. if they hire American workers. Last month, Lutnick praised Ford's decision to shift some Lincoln production from China to the U.S. starting in 2030, while Duffy's letter this week called that timeline unacceptably slow.

Ilaria Mazzocco, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the whiplash complicates planning for automakers. While there is broad agreement that the U.S. wants less dependence on China, she said, there is little consensus on what that should look like in practice.