Under Trump, the US is open to business with China

Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, believes the only way America can do business with China responsibly is to “level the playing field” between itself and a country that refuses to respect international law.

Hoekstra gave remarks in Freeland on May 1 to open a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump, for whom Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands.

Hoekstra also served in Michigan’s 2nd House District from 1993 to 2011 and was a founding member of the Congressional House Tea Party Caucus in 2010.

Hoekstra, one of the most outspoken critics of Gotion Inc.’s battery component factory. to be built in Mecosta County, said it is unwise for Michigan to offer $800 million to taxpayers to help support a company with ties to China.

“I fought hard against the electric vehicle battery (parts) plant in Big Rapids,” he said. “I don’t like giving Chinese companies billions of our taxpayers to strengthen their position in an emerging transportation technology that is critical to America.”

In October 2022, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Quentin Messer, Jr., CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, announced a state stimulus package approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund. The deal provides $800 million in incentives to Gotion’s $2.4 billion investment to meet increasing demand in the battery manufacturing industry. The plant is expected to employ approximately 2,300 people in the Big Rapids area.

Gotion was founded in China in 1998. In 2014, Gotion opened research and development facilities in California and Ohio. The company also has offices in Europe and China. Hoekstra rejects all evidence that Gotion operates as an American company.

“Peel back the layers and it goes back to China,” he said.

In the letter, Thelen stated: “Gotion Inc. North American Manufacturing will not adhere to the Chinese ‘Article of Association.'” Michigan has welcomed hundreds of China-based companies to the state, and they have all been great neighbors, without any issues with political assimilation. There are also many Michigan companies that do business in China and include similar statutes in their documents. In China this is required, but in the United States we will proudly adhere to American law and the articles that ten years ago at our California headquarters will be allowed in Michigan.

US Representatives John Moolenaar and Hoekstra have been criticized for spreading false information about the project. Both appeared in a video produced by a dark money lobbying group called the ‘EV Taxpayer Task Force’. The group claims, among other things, that the Gotion factory gives China access to American technology as a “Trojan horse” and poses a risk to national security. In the video, the location of the Green Township facility is described as “near Camp Grayling” – although it is about 100 miles southwest of the National Guard base.

While the development was welcome news to many Big Rapids area residents, Hoekstra said he was “working with” groups opposed to the project. He is also listed as a member of the board of directors of the Mecosta Environmental Security Alliance, which was formed to help fight the construction of the plant.

“In Big Rapids, I think there were a lot of people who said, ‘We didn’t move to Big Rapids for a mega site to come,’” he said. “I think it uses significantly more water than the Ice Mountain plant down the road. You’ll remember there were huge environmental problems (with Ice Mountain). No one’s really talking about the water issue here, and I don’t understand that absolutely.”

In July 2023, The Detroit News reported that Hoekstra once lobbied on behalf of a Chinese lumber and plywood company. According to News, Washington DC-based law firm Dickstein Shapiro “listed Hoekstra as a lobbyist for Zhejiang Dehua TB Import & Export Co. in a 2013 filing with the US House of Representatives. Hoekstra served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011 and chaired the House Intelligence Committee.”

Hoekstra explained that the competitive atmosphere between the US and China is different today than it was a decade ago.

“I was in Congress when we voted to give China permanent, normal trade relations. I voted against,” said Hoekstra. “To the people who voted for it, they said it would usher in a new era of prosperity, a new era of peace and cooperation and that China would become more like us – better respect for international law and human rights.”

Hoekstra said it was clear the 2013 trade deal was a failure. Today, projects like the state-boosted Gotion factory reward China’s bad behavior, which has raised both business and national security concerns.

“The Chinese issue has become a bigger problem because they have become much more aggressive – militarily and economically,” he said. ‘They still don’t respect intellectual property, they still charge predatory prices. I was in the (Trump) administration as an ambassador and the answer was clear: we are open to doing business with China, but we must do so on a level playing field.

“That’s what protects American workers and that’s what keeps us safe as a country.”