Steve Cortes, founder of the League of American Workers, has raised concerns about Chinese interests allegedly attempting to influence the U.S. Senate’s tax bill to benefit Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) and leverage critical minerals. Cortes made this statement on X.
“The Chinese try to pressure OUR Senate in the final phases of the tax bill,” said Cortes. “Beijing wants to protect their battery maker CATL, get American subsidies, and sustain leverage over the US on critical minerals. Leader Thune, hold the line!”
Recent developments in U.S. Senate tax legislation have focused on foreign battery manufacturers like CATL. According to Reuters, lawmakers have introduced amendments aimed at preventing companies linked to Chinese entities from receiving federal electric vehicle (EV) tax credits.
CATL’s involvement in U.S. subsidy programs has become a significant topic in legislative discussions. Bloomberg reports that the company supplied batteries to projects eligible for hundreds of millions in federal tax incentives before new restrictions were proposed for 2025.
The U.S. Geological Survey indicates that U.S. dependence on Chinese critical minerals for battery production was approximately 80% in 2020 but decreased to around 60% by 2024 due to expanded domestic sourcing and new policies.
Cortes is also known as a senior political advisor to CatholicVote and a former senior advisor to President Trump and JD Vance. Additionally, he serves as a commentator for Fox News and CNN and regularly releases documentaries and columns at cortesinvestigates.com.
