Ford has attracted criticism from US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over its deepening ties with Chinese companies - with a particular emphasis on a Michigan battery plant that utilises technology licensed from China battery giant CATL.

Bloomberg reported that in a letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley, Duffy said his department is “deeply alarmed” by Ford’s use of technology licensed from China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL) to produce batteries at a plant in Michigan.

Duffy also reportedly said Ford’s recent joint venture with Chinese automaker Geely in Spain helps strategic adversaries gain a foothold in Western markets.

“While DOT recognizes the intense competitive pressures of the global market, the company’s recent strategic decisions paint a troubling picture of a foundational American brand actively intertwining its future with Chinese state-backed enterprises,” Duffy reportedly said in the letter.

Ford responded strongly to the letter by saying in a statement that “Secretary Duffy’s letter is a wrongheaded attempt to capture headlines at the expense of a company that has done more for American manufacturing than virtually any other in the nation’s history.”

The company also pointed out that the BlueOval Battery Park Michigan in Marshall is a “Ford-owned and Ford-operated facility representing billions of dollars in investment and approximately 1,700 new American jobs”.

Further, the statement went on: “It is producing batteries in Michigan, with American workers, for Ford vehicles also built in America. While others continue to import Chinese batteries, Ford is investing to build batteries here in America. The CATL arrangement is a limited technology-licensing and services agreement, not a joint venture or foreign-owned manufacturing operation. Ford owns the plant, controls the operation and employs the workforce.”

And the statement added: “Secretary Duffy’s letter also contains factual errors. Ford has not proposed a joint-venture framework as described in the letter.”