James introduces bill that would have blocked Michigan’s Gotion giveaway

If the No American Tax Dollars to CCP Act had been the law in America, Michigan lawmakers wouldn’t have been able to give Gotion $175 million to build a campus and upgrade area infrastructure.

Lawmakers on the Michigan House and Senate appropriations committees approved the giveaway last month, bringing Michigan’s tab for the $2.4 billion project to about $800 million, or one-third its cost.

In a statement announcing House Resolution 2951, Rep. John James, R-Warren, mentioned Gotion by name, and the bill targets “battery components” specifically. The proposed Gotion facility in Big Rapids will build electric vehicle battery components.

Read it for yourself: The No American Tax Dollars to CCP Act

The Gotion plant is “less than 100 miles from Camp Grayling,” James noted.

“We need to unleash and grow our economy, but not by selling our national security to the highest bidder," James said. “Financing the Chinese Communist Party only emboldens their quest for power and puts our nation at risk.”

Related reading: John James cautions against China dependency, arbitrary deadlines in transition to EVs

The bill would prevent American tax dollars from going toward companies “controlled by, operated by, or under the substantial influence of a foreign entity of concern.”

Companies that rely on Chinese technology would be subject to the bill, as would any company in which a Chinese company has at least a 20% stake.

The bill’s name references the Chinese Community Party, but the bill itself does not mention China.

James’ bill was introduced April 27 and referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. James sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The freshman representative describes himself as a “vocal advocate for countering the Chinese Communist Party’s grand strategy to seize control of the U.S. economy.”

When the U.S. House voted to create a committee on U.S.-China competition, James and 12 other members of Michigan’s congressional delegation, on both sides, voted yes. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Dearborn, was the only Michigander to vote no.