Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan Trip Reportedly Causing Issues With Tesla Battery Supplier CATL Which Just Delayed Plans to Build North American Factory

Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan early Tuesday morning. Her visit to the small island country off the coast of mainland China has raised tensions between China and the United States.

This increased tension has many being careful with what they say or do, including the world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL).

CATL is the battery supplier for electric vehicle company Tesla.

CATL, according to Bloomberg sources, is delaying making an announcement about where they plan to build a plant in North America. The company has been looking at sites in Canada and Mexico where they could potentially build a plant to produce batteries. According to Bloomberg, they had narrowed it down to two sites in Mexico.

In an effort to stay out of the fray, CATL had decided internally to delay the announcement to later this year according to Bloomberg sources.

Bloomberg reached out to CATL for an on-the-record statement however the company did not respond to their inquiry.

CATL was in negotiations about incentives on site selection somewhere near the Mexico-Texas border for the plant. They were planning on making the announcement in the next couple of weeks. Tesla is headquartered in Austin TX and a plant near the Mexico-Texas border would benefit them greatly.

CATL is headquartered in Fujian which is across the Taiwan straight from the island of Taiwan.

China has been operating military exercises off the island of Taiwan and recently released a “propaganda” video of their military. China also warned against the Speaker from visiting the island of Taiwan and the Biden Administration acted like a dead fish in response to China’s threats.

Some Republicans have come out in support of the Speaker’s trip after China’s response while Democrats have remained mostly silent on the matter.

Pelosi left Taiwan earlier today, but tensions remain high in the wake of her visit. Pelosi said that China cannot stop other world leaders from visiting Taiwan.

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Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan creates tension with Tesla battery supplier CATL