Holland Reporter

Mike Gallagher, former U.S. representative of Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District, expressed concerns about the United States' reliance on China-made batteries, solar panels, and related hardware. He suggested that this dependence could lead to hidden vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. Gallagher made these remarks on X.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China controls over 80% of the global manufacturing capacity across all key stages of the solar photovoltaic supply chain, including polysilicon, wafers, cells, and modules. The IEA executive summary indicates that this concentration has led most countries to rely on Chinese suppliers for solar panels and components such as inverters. The report highlights that these dependencies impact the structure and resilience of national energy systems where such hardware is used.

HRone, referencing data from BloombergNEF, reports that Chinese companies made significant investments in global clean technology manufacturing in 2024, especially in sectors like batteries and solar panels. According to BloombergNEF, China's share of the battery manufacturing market remains substantial, with companies like CATL expanding their presence both domestically and internationally. This trend results in a higher proportion of clean technology components being produced by Chinese firms for export worldwide.

In a November 2023 statement, the House Select Committee on the CCP condemned Ford’s partnership with CATL due to the Chinese company’s links to forced labor and CCP policy. The committee’s statements called for Ford to disengage from CATL to protect American jobs and supply chains. Congressional oversight emphasized the need to avoid CCP influence in battery manufacturing. 

Gallagher is a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute and serves as head of defense at Palantir Technologies. He represented Wisconsin’s Eighth District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2024, where he chaired the Select Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party and played a leading role in cybersecurity and national security policy. Before his time in Congress, Dr. Gallagher served as a Marine Corps intelligence officer and received multiple awards for his bipartisan leadership on national security issues.