After collecting hundreds of millions from Michigan taxpayers, Ford is warning the company’s plans for a BlueOval Battery Park in Marshall could be in trouble without additional federal tax dollars.

Bill Ford, chair of Ford Motor Co., bemoaned the One Big Beautiful Bill moving through Congress at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Thursday, claiming the loss of federal tax credits included in the legislation could cause issues for the multi-billion dollar automaker’s plans in Marshall, Reuters reports.

“If it doesn’t stay, it will imperil what we do in Marshall,” Ford said of federal clean energy tax credits championed by former President Joe Biden.

“We made a certain investment based upon a policy that was in place,” he said. “It’s not fair to change policies after all the expenditure has been made.”

Ford is relying on technology from Chinese battery giant CATL to produce batteries at the BlueOval facility, which remains under construction and is expected to open in 2026 to employ about 1,700.

Ford initially promised to invest $3.5 billion and create 2,500 jobs when the project was announced in February 2023 with $1.3 billion in state taxpayer subsidies. Ford later delayed the timeline for the project by a year, slashed $1 billion from its investment, and cut job projections, prompting state officials to rescind some of the its incentives.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act approved by the U.S. House last week includes language that would ban production tax credits approved by Biden for batteries produced using Chinese technology, the Detroit Free Press reports.

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The language is based on legislation sponsored by Congressman John Moolenaar that would also impact plans to build an EV battery component plant in Mecosta County, where Gotion, Inc. has drawn fierce criticism and public opposition over the company’s close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

That legislation, known as the NO GOTION Act, was also introduced in the Senate and enjoys bipartisan support.

Gotion is set to receive $715 million in state taxpayer subsidies through a secretly negotiated deal with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration to build its planned battery component plant about 88 miles south of Camp Grayling, Michigan’s National Guard base.

While prominent Michigan Democrats including Whitmer and U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin are strong supporters of the planned Gotion plant, Republicans including President Donald Trump and the vast majority of local residents are adamantly opposed.

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“The Gotion plant would be very bad for the State and our Country,” Trump posted to Truth Social in August. “It would put Michiganders under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. I AM 100% OPPOSED!”

Republicans contend that eliminating the EV production credits, as well as others promoted by Democrats to force a transition to EVs, would save taxpayers $6.3 billion by reversing what House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Kentucky, describes as “the most reckless parts of the engorged climate spending in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act,” Bridge Michigan reports.

Ford’s comments at the Mackinac Policy Conference came the same day “community stakeholders across Calhoun County” penned a letter to Congressman Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, urging the lawmaker to “consider how important the Federal Tax Production Credit is to potential economic growth for families and businesses across the … region.”

“We ask that you support pro-growth federal tax policies that enable and ensure projects like BlueOval Battery Park Michigan continue to exist, grow and succeed,” the letter read.

Eliminating the tax credits, the letter read, “could put this investment at risk.”

Walburg, along with all other Republicans in the Michigan Congressional Delegation, voted in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill. All of Michigan’s Democratic representatives opposed the measure.

While construction of the BlueOval facility progresses, Republicans and locals continue to lobby against Gotion, which has delayed progress in Michigan amid litigation fueled by widespread opposition.

Earlier this month, the Michigan House Oversight Subcommittee on Subsidies and State Investments held a hearing to scrutinize Gotion’s taxpayer-funded subsidies, drawing warnings from former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Cella and others about the consequences of inviting investments from China.

Cella noted the country’s National Intelligence Law requires companies to share data with the Chinese Communist Party.

“Should the Gotion deal come to fruition, it will only be a matter of time before espionage commences,” Cella said.