EV Battery Supply Chain – DERAILED By This Discovery
(ConservativeInsider.org) – The Left continues its push for electric vehicles (EV) over gas-powered ones as the price of fuel stays at record-high levels. However, the switch to electric vehicles demands charging stations, lithium-ion batteries, and tens of thousands of dollars per car. A report from the New York Times just put another hiccup in Progressives’ trend toward EV: the necessary batteries are likely made with forced labor in China.
NYT Connects “Potentially Coervice Labor Practices” to EV Batteries
On Monday, June 20, the New York Times published an investigative article diving into the connection between the Xinjiang Nonferrous Metal Industry Group and forced labor with Uyghur ethnic workers. In March of 2020, the company posted photos on their website of their new Muslim recruits going through management and etiquette training, although most human rights groups equate the “employment” to forced labor.
An estimated 75% of all lithium-ion batteries are produced in China. While manufacturing plants have historically sourced materials from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Australia, and Argentina, they are trying more and more to use materials from within China’s border. With this, the Xinjiang Nonferrous Metal Industry Group is getting more business and “recruiting” more workers for its questionable labor force.
Although EV batteries are made by slave labor in the Congo and Communist China… the average price of a new EV is still on the order of $60,000.
Imagine what EVs would cost if made in legal, moral and first-world conditions.https://t.co/lLiS322gHa
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) June 21, 2022
Will the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Pause Imports?
On Tuesday, June 21, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act took effect, prohibiting goods made in Xinjiang from arriving on US shores. Now, importers, including car manufacturers, will have to prove their products have no elements, including raw materials, made with forced labor.
China is notorious for denying that forced labor happens within its border, and it goes to great lengths to make its supply chains difficult to trace. The apparel and food industries now have to try and ensure their products are free from such human rights violations, so they don’t get seized or turned back at the ports. Car manufacturers are also following suit.
Experts Weigh In
Daisy Jennings-Gray, a senior analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, told the New York Times that there is “some involvement from China” in all-electric vehicle batteries. When Representative Thomas Suozzi (D-NY) was asked about the repercussions the law could have on inflation and the cost of goods, he doubled down on how vital it is to protect people’s basic human rights.
As China has an enormous hand in the manufacturing and sourcing of many parts of electric vehicles, including batteries, it will be hard to ensure the cars are made without the use of forced labor. Where does that leave these next-generation vehicles?
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