The State of Illinois is providing taxpayer funded incentives, of more than half a billion dollars, to lure a Communist China tied company, Gotion, to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery factory in the state. Gotion will receive additional federal tax incentives.
The Gateway Pundit reported on Gotion’s recent failed attempt to build a similar factory in a small farming community in Green Twp, Michigan.
But Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced on Friday that Illinois is more than ready to hand over tax dollars to the CCP tied company.
The plant’s location in Manteno, Illinois lies approximately 30 miles from one of the largest inland ports in the United States.
Pritzker said in a statement announcing the deal, “In partnership with the business community and the General Assembly, two years ago we set out to make Illinois a destination for electric vehicle and clean energy companies from across the globe.”
“With the right incentives, nation-leading infrastructure, world-class workforce and booming clean energy production, we have transformed ourselves into an attractive location for global manufacturers. Today, we take another leap forward. It’s my pleasure to welcome Gotion to Illinois and to show the world yet again that Illinois is ready to be a player on the world stage.”
Governor JB Pritzker announced the state’s deal with Gotion on Friday for construction of the project in Manteno, southwest of Chicago. The plant is expected to cost $2 billion and employ 2,600 workers. Gotion’s total incentive package from the State of Illinois is valued at $536 million, according to Pritzker’s announcement. In addition, Kankakee County agreed to cap property taxes paid on the approximately 150-acre property at $2 million per year for the next 30 years.
The state incentive package alone, exceeding $206,000 per worker, is exceptionally high in comparison to typical plant-siting location incentives around the nation other than battery factories. “The average incentive deal in the U.S. might be around US$50,000 per job,” although it’s not unusual for highly capital-intensive projects to receive incentives of over US$100,000 per job.” That’s according to senior economist at the WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, quoted in the Financial Times.
However, those subsidies are dwarfed by huge federal tax credits now being lavished on new battery producers under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which devoted $783 billion to global warming and green energy spending. President Biden recently admitted that the act was not about inflation reduction. It has been heavily criticized as climate extremism.
🏢💸🇨🇳 Congressional opposition is growing to massive tax subsidies for Gotion and other foreign companies with close ties to the brutal & totalitarian Chinese Communist Party‼️ ⏰ to stop the Chinese land grab. https://t.co/5h5VXP0m7O
— Rich Studley, Michigander (@rstudley) September 13, 2023
Former Congressman Pete Hoekstra, who also served on the House Intelligence Committee, wrote about his concerns with Gotion’s efforts in Michigan saying:
This is textbook CCP penetration of the U.S. economy on a sub-national level. They are cunning in their calculation, patient and persistent, and they utilize authoritarian efficiency as they influence our policymakers through intervening individuals and entities.
Taxpayer dollars must not be invested in U.S.-based projects that will fall under Chinese government control. We must be clear-eyed about the threat and fight it, rather than blindly invest taxpayer dollars to undermine our own national security.
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