US House committee chair Mike Gallagher ‘concerned’ by Tesla’s dependency on China

Gallagher said he would like to know how Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk balances US government support for the electric-car maker and its operations in China

Criticism comes soon after Tesla announced plans to open a Megapack battery factory in Shanghai

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Mike Gallagher is the Republican chair of the House of Representatives’ select committee on China’s Communist Party. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Published: 10:03am, 11 Apr 2023

The leader of a US congressional committee on China said on Monday he was concerned about electric carmaker Tesla’s dependency on China, a day after the company revealed plans to open a Megapack battery factory in Shanghai.

Tesla announced the factory in a tweet on Sunday, and Chinese state media said it would initially produce 10,000 Megapack units a year, equal to around 40 gigawatt hours of energy storage, and complement a huge existing Shanghai plant making electric vehicles.

Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives’ select committee on China’s Communist Party, said he would like to know how Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk balances US government support for Tesla and its operations in China.

“I’m concerned about this,” Gallagher told Reuters when asked about the battery factory.

The signing ceremony of Tesla’s Megafactory Shanghai project on April 9. Photo: Xinhua

“Tesla seems entirely dependent, A, on the largesse of the federal government via tax breaks, and B, upon access to the Chinese market,” Gallagher said.