Rep. LaHood shares evidence of slave labor tied to EV battery company opening plant in Illinois | Top Stories
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — A company set to make electric vehicle batteries in Illinois has been accused of connections to slave labor in China. U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Peoria) and members of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warning about Gotion’s supply chain.
Gov. JB Pritzker and top Illinois Democratic leaders welcomed Gotion to Manteno last September, as the Chinese company started to build a massive $2 billion plant in Kankakee County. Gotion’s total incentive package from the state is valued at $536 million, but the company is eligible to receive tax benefits totally $213 million over 30 years.
“This new facility will produce lithium ion battery packs and battery cells to power electric buses, electric trucks, electric cars made in the USA,” Pritzker said September 8. “And they’ll be shipping all across this continent and all across the world.”
LaHood said Gotion maintains business relationships with companies directly linked to forced labor and genocide of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups. LaHood and other Republican leaders wrote that one of Gotion’s key suppliers has moved Uyghurs into involuntary work at satellite factories and remote mine sites under the guise of “poverty alleviation” and anti-extremism training programs.
“We have a stronger life cycle to support us to sustain our vehicles and energy storage products to deliver the robust energy for our communities,” Gotion Global President Chen Li said September 8.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security maintains a list of companies in Xinjiang, China that engage in slave labor. Those companies and their products are blacklisted from the United States, according to the letter.
“As companies liked to the CCP receive billions of taxpayer dollars in federal and state subsidies, we have an obligation to ensure they abide by federal law and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,” LaHood stated. “The Select Committee and my office will continue to conduct necessary oversight to protect Illinois taxpayers from the influence of these malign activities and human rights violations.”
The Republicans noted that Gotion sources lithium-ion and other materials from companies with deep connections to Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a sanctioned Chinese parliamentary organization that contributes to the Uyghur genocide.
LaHood was not available for an interview with WAND News Friday.
Alex Gough, the press secretary for the governor’s office released the following statement.
“We fully trust the federal government’s review of the company and as a result, an industry leader with numerous breakthroughs in battery technology now calls our state home. We are proud to cement our status as a leader in the EV industry by bringing $2 billion in investment and 2,600 jobs to Illinois.”
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