Youngkin Spurns Ford’s Proposed $3.5B Virginia Plant Over China Concerns

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin told Ford thanks, but no thanks for its proposal to build a $3.5 billion battery plant over the car maker’s partnership with China.

The plant, which was proposed for Pittsylvania County (southwestern portion of Old Dominion), would have made lithium ironphosphate batteries. electric vehicles As many as 2,500 employees were employed. The company planned to build on Berry Hill, a 3,500-acre property owned by the county. Virginia has been developing and marketing the site for industrial purposes since before the Republican governor ended the deal.

“We felt that the right thing to do was to not recruit Ford as a front for China to America,” Youngkin spoke out last week, after he delivered his State of the Commonwealth speech before the General Assembly. Youngkin made the announcement for the first time.

Youngkin supports communist China, Whitmer stands for it “vying” For the business.

Whitmer does not understand economic development. This has caused massive job loss and exodus from Michigan. Out of desperateness, she seeks out the CCP. https://t.co/yp3eJL0LTb

— Tudor Dixon (@TudorDixon) January 18, 2023

Ford’s partner in the project was to be the Chinese company Contemporary Amperex Technology.

Democratic state legislators slammed Youngkin for ignoring the deal and accused him of bashing China in order to advance his potential White House ambitions. Youngkin has not yet indicated that he will seek a White House bid in 2024. However, his dramatic 2021 victory in the Key Blue State attracted national attention.

“To deny [people in the community] jobs because you’re in last place in Republican presidential primaries [is] gubernatorial malpractice,” Senator Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “I mean, this is clearly just obvious to me that the governor’s in some kind of out-China-bashing-contest with [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis and Governor Greg Abbott out of Texas.”

Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said Ford’s partner is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, and was therefore not welcome in the state.

“While Ford is an iconic American company, it became clear that this proposal would serve as a front for the Chinese Communist party, which could compromise our economic security and Virginians’ personal privacy,” Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Virginians can be confident that companies with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party won’t receive a leg up from the Commonwealth’s economic incentive packages. When the potentially damaging effects of the deal were realized, the plant proposal never reached a final discussion stage.”

Ford is believed to be now considering building the plant in Michigan.