In idyllic Sidney, Ohio, roughly two miles southwest of the 166-year-old fairgrounds, just past the Louis Sullivan-designed bank and ornate Court Square, lies the newest location of SEMCORP Manufacturing USA Inc., a Chinese battery component manufacturer that prefers its new hires speak Mandarin.
Photos and other investigative materials reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation show Chinese nationals being transported between temporary housing in motels and the Sidney plant at unusual hours, resembling the “996” (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 6 days a week) practice in China. The materials include job posts on Indeed.com listing the company’s preferred language as Mandarin.
It’s a far cry from the promise of 1,199 full-time positions for locals that charmed the Sidney City Council in May 2022. The council voted unanimously to approve a job creation tax credit for SEMCORP after the company predicted it would produce $73 million in annual payrolls, a boon to the small Midwestern town.
SEMCORP enjoys a 75% property tax exemption from the city of Sidney for 15 years through a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) agreement, as independent reporter Breanna Morello first reported.
“We are encouraged by their willingness to be a good neighbor,” said Sidney City Manager Andrew Bowsher after the vote.
SEMCORP is just one example of how the American government invests in Chinese firms that do not invest in the safety and security of the Americans living in the towns they operate in.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) — the massive spending and tax credit bill President Donald Trump signed into law in July 2025 — was supposed to prevent tax credits from flowing to companies owned or effectively controlled by China, or to companies that receive most of their supplies from China.
Taxpayer funding funneled to Chinese battery manufacturers risks supporting dual use technology, according to Michael Busler, a policy analyst and a professor of finance at Stockton University. Advanced batteries play a role in military equipment.
“It is critically important that the U.S. does not rely on China for these products,” he told the DCNF.
But enforcement is a challenge. Beijing embraces a fusion of the civil and military uses of science that blurs the line between work on consumer products and work on weapons, according to the State Department. Chinese controlled firms gobble up subsidies through U.S. shell companies, according to Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, a political advocacy group focused on consumer interests and the free market.
In the end, American tax dollars may subsidize Chinese industrial policy. Often promised jobs for locals never materialize.
SEMCORP confirmed that Chinese nationals work at the company. James Shih, the head of global projects and legal for SEMCORP Group, told the DCNF in an interview that these workers have L-1 visas, which are meant for executives and technicians with specialized knowledge. He challenged the assumption that there is anything unusual about employees staying in motels and the company providing travel to employees without driver’s licenses.
Shih said the company plans to partner with an American firm in order to comply with regulations on Chinese firms. He insisted the firm would eventually train up Americans, but could not provide a timeline for doing so.
He said that the company does not plan on utilizing city tax breaks based on hiring or investment numbers.
“SEMCORP America is proud to be the first company to invest in the commercial-scale manufacturing of coated lithium-ion battery separator, a critical component of our energy supply chain, in the United States,” Shih said in a statement. “We’re also proud of our international employees working shoulder-to-shoulder with our local workforce.”
“We’re still early in our launch but look forward to bringing hundreds of advanced manufacturing jobs right here to Ohio,” he added.
Within weeks of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announcing SEMCORP’s plans to build a plant in Sidney as part of $1 billion in investment across the state, residents packed into City Hall to raise concerns about the company’s generous tax credits and Chinese roots, according to a Sidney Daily News report.
Twenty-year resident J.R. Edwards said he was worried about runoff into his nearby property, the paper reported. SEMCORP manufactures insulation separating the nodes of electric car batteries, a process that involves several hazardous solvents.
Now new concerns have emerged at an older plant in Europe — the company’s first factory outside of China.