Ford Allegedly Wants To Build Chinese Cars For Americans, In America

Ford is reportedly exploring the idea of partnering with Chinese automakers on U.S. soil, a play that could totally reshape the American auto market.

According to a new report from Bloomberg, Ford CEO Jim Farley already discussed the idea of a joint venture with members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet during the recent Detroit Auto Show. According to the report, Farley met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to float the proposal.

Under the alleged framework, Chinese automakers would form manufacturing joint ventures with established American automakers. The U.S. companies would retain controlling stakes in the partnerships, while profits and technologies would be shared between both sides.

Sounds almost exactly like China's former 'pay-to-play' requirement that foreign automobile companies form joint ventures with domestic producers in exchange for market access.

Until 2022, when China removed the requirement, foreign ownership in the JVs was capped at 50%. The U.S. government had long criticized the policy as a forced technology transfer that helped raise the quality of China’s domestic auto industry. But with China now leading the way in the electric vehicle space, it seems America is planning to take a page from the Chinese playbook.

If Ford’s proposal gains traction in Washington, it could set a blueprint for how Chinese automakers establish manufacturing operations in the United States without having to directly import large volumes of vehicles. At the same time, it would give legacy automakers access to China's electric vehicle technology and established supply chain.

For Ford, a partnership like this could provide access to advanced EV technologies and cost efficiencies developed in China, where electric vehicle production has scaled rapidly. For Chinese brands, a U.S.-based joint venture would offer a pathway into one of the world’s most lucrative markets while making it easier to navigate trade and tariff challenges.

No formal agreements have been announced, and any such plan would face intense regulatory scrutiny.

Our Take:

Ford has to do something. The automaker's electric vehicle business lost nearly $5 billion last year, with another $4-5 billion in losses already pencilled in for 2026. That joins the $14 billion in operational losses over the last three years and the $19.5 billion writedown due to losses in its EV programs— including killing the F-150 Lightning.

Ford's operating profit for 2025 was $6.8 billion, the profit numbers would have been firmly into 11 figures without the EV operational losses. The Blue Oval just can't keep losing $5-10 billion per year producing electric vehicles; that's an express pass to bankruptcy. So it's definitely not a bad play to turn China's own strategy against them and gobble up as much institutional learning as possible.

Of course, there's another, more toxic question hanging in the balance—will American autoworkers tolerate it, not just from an ideological standpoint, but from a work culture standpoint? How much of China's EV advantage is born from technology, and how much of it is born from worker exploitation?

The margins never lie.

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