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CATL Appeals Pentagon Listing as US-China Tensions Persist
Company Executives Say Batteries Pose No Espionage or Security Risk
The world’s largest electric vehicle battery maker is pushing for its removal from a Pentagon list of companies tied to China’s military that’s cast a pall over its U.S. prospects, in a campaign led by one of the firm’s co-founders, according to people familiar with the effort.
Pan Jian, co-chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., has made at least two trips to the U.S. since last year to argue the company’s case, including a visit in March 2025 when he met with Defense Department officials in Washington, the people said.
At that meeting, two months after thePentagon had added CATL to its blacklist, Pan and his team told U.S. officials that the company’s batteries wouldn’t be used by the Chinese military, the people said. As part of the presentation, they showed a video and provided extensive documentation to support their case, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
While the meeting was cordial, Pan came away concerned that CATL’s chances of being removed were slim given tensions between the U.S. and China over trade and security, the people said. Even after Pan made another trip to the U.S. in September to continue the campaign and conduct other business, the company remained on the Defense Department’s list, though CATL continues to pursue paths to win relief.
“We are exploring legally available options to address the false designation,” said a representative from CATL. The person added that the video Pan showed Pentagon officials focused on “CATL’s vision and corporate culture.”
Pentagon spokespeople didn’t respond to a request for comment.
CATL’s struggles in contesting the Pentagon listing highlight how deeply held security concerns in Washington are blunting efforts by one of China’s national champions to expand abroad. U.S. restrictions on Chinese companies are expected to be on the agenda when President Donald Trump meets his counterpart Xi Jinping for a summit in Beijing next month.
Though the U.S. has fallen behind China in the type of battery technology CATL has mastered, which is crucial to the auto industry and energy-intensive data centers, the company continues to face staunch opposition from American lawmakers and the national security officials who view its products as a threat to supply chains.
CATL has long denied it poses a security risk or that it’s involved with the Chinese military. Pan’s co-chairman, Yuqun “Robin” Zeng, has joked that while batteries are difficult to formulate, they’re “dumb as bricks” and of no use for espionage. While the software used to manage battery systems has vulnerabilities, industry experts say the electrochemical components of a battery cell do not.
Last year, CATL suppliedalmost 40%of EV batteries worldwide and abouta thirdof the global stationary storage market, according to South Korea-based SNE Research. Now valued at nearly $300 billion, the manufacturer has been working for years to establish a presence in the U.S., where it has supplied customers including Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc. and Ford Motor Co.
Inclusion on the Pentagon’s so-called 1260H list is widely seen by investors as a first step toward tougher measures by other U.S. agencies, posing a market risk for targeted companies that complicates their dealings with customers and partners. Designations are increasingly being used to bar firms from contracts: as of June 30, the Pentagon will be barred from signing or renewing contracts to buy goods or services from listed entities.
The Biden administration’s decision to add CATL to thein January 2025 came at a particularly tricky time for the company, which was preparing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong. When Trump took office days later, he vowed to end electric vehicle subsidies, throwing another wrench in the company’s plans.
Due to the broad nature of the 1260H statute, as well as China’s “military-civil fusion” policy — where the state mandates private-sector collaboration with the country’s military — the Pentagon has had little trouble legally justifying its addition of companies to the list. Recent lawsuits other companies filed seeking removal have failed. One of the only reasons companies have been able to get off is by proving they no longer have U.S. operations, which would run counter to CATL’s ambitions.
International expansion remains a core pillar of CATL’s growth plans, partially due to overcapacity and price wars in its home market. On April 15, the company reported a 49% jump in first-quarter profit, beating analysts’ estimates, while revenue rose 52% from a year ago. CATL also said itplans to expand its footprint in critical mineralsand strengthen supply chain security.
