US Senator Marco Rubio has requested an investigation into Ford Motor Co.’s partnership with PT Vale Indonesia and China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt in a $4.5bn nickel processing plant in Indonesia. Rubio, who is the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, believes that the venture poses a threat to US national security. He has asked the US Justice, State, Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security departments, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, to investigate the plan. Rubio’s letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken cited Huayou calling the project “one of the flagship projects under the Belt and Road Initiative” when Ford announced the deal in March. Rubio said the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative is one of the primary mechanisms China “uses to spread its influence around the world and gain control of critical infrastructure and natural resources.”
Ford’s investment in Indonesia is its first and underscores the growing appetite among automakers for raw materials used in producing EV batteries, which account for about 40% of a vehicle’s sticker price, aiming to cut costs and close the gap on EV market leader Tesla Inc. Rubio said in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Ford’s efforts “to increase the exposure of the US to depend on supply chains controlled by companies subservient to the CCP has grown more brazen and visible over time, especially with regard to critical minerals and EV batteries.” Indonesia, which has the world’s biggest nickel reserves, has been trying to develop downstream industries for the metal, ultimately aiming to produce batteries and EVs. Vale and Huayou began construction of the plant in November and commercial operation is expected to start in 2026.
Rubio’s request arises as US Senate Democrats renew efforts to stave off competition from China. This push includes planned legislation to boost the country’s ability to face up to the Asian powerhouse on issues from technology to security and threats to Taiwan. Schumer said the bill – dubbed “China Competition 2.0” – would broaden last year’s “Chips and Science” act. “Today, we are announcing a new initiative, one that will build on this momentum and develop new and significant bipartisan legislation,” Schumer told a press conference. He said he hoped the bill would be bipartisan, and said Republicans in the Senate had been supportive of some of the ideas proposed for the package. The measure will need Republican support to become law, as Republicans control the House of Representatives. The desire for a hard line on China is one of the few truly bipartisan sentiments in the perennially divided US Congress, and last year’s legislation passed with overwhelming support from both Democrats and Republicans.
