US DoD Blacklists Chinese EV Battery Maker CATL
On 6 January 2025, the US Department of Defense (DoD) placed China Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) on its blacklist on grounds of national security. The decision could not have come at a worse time as CATL was planning a much-anticipated listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange later this year. The listing would contribute to finance the overseas expansion of CATL and Morgan Stanley even estimated the operation could raise nearly USD 8 billion.
CATL already has facilities in Germany, Hungary and Mexico. Additionally, it is partnering with multinational auto maker Stellantis to build a USD 4 billion plant in Spain. It is not yet clear how the setback will affect the overseas expansion strategy of CATL as the company does have a substantial war chest.
CATL (SZSE: 300750) is blue chip stock on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange; the listing in Hong Kong was aimed at facilitating access to foreign funds. Several US investment banks, such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, were already salivating at the mega-listing. However, the move by the Pentagon has now put a damper on their expectations.
Leveraging its huge home market and surfing on the #EnergyTransition and #GreenMobility wave, CATL has developed into the world’s largest battery maker. In addition to batteries for Electric Vehicles (#EV), it also manufactures batteries for Energy Storage Systems (#ESS), typically used in non-constant renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power stations.
It currently dominates the #lithium-ion battery market with nearly 40% global market share. It is a key supplier to some of the largest auto makers such as BYD, Tesla, Ford, Volkswagen and BMW, to name a few.
Technically, the blacklisting does not prevent the US firms from working with CATL but it will force them to ask the question about whether a bank can underwrite a company that the USA has labeled as a ‘security risk.’ Associating with CATL could expose firms to reputational risk, or even get them barred them from juicy US government contracts in the future.
In 2023, a similar dilemma presented itself with Syngenta which planned an IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange worth an estimated USD 9 billion. Because Syngenta’s parent company is ChemChina and ChemChina was on the US DoD’s blacklist, the IPO had eventually to be called off despite intense lobbying from US investment banks.
A spokesperson from CATL declared that the company will seek to take legal action since it deems that the blacklisting is baseless. Although Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi managed to reverse a similar decision in 2021, it is believed that the blacklisting of CATL shall remain in the context of the intensifying US-China rivalry to control key industries of the future.