According to a media report, a group of Republican US congressmen want to put the Chinese battery manufacturers CATL and Gotion on an import ban list for the United States.

The "Wall Street Journal" reported on Thursday that this concerns allegations of forced labor. The two companies, which work with Ford and Volkswagen among others, should be included in the Uyghur Forced Labor Act.

The VW Group is the largest shareholder of its technology partner Gotion with just under 25 percent. The Chinese battery manufacturer told Reuters that any accusations that the company "uses or is associated with forced labor are unfounded and absolutely false". The selection of partners is based on clear criteria. VW's rules also apply to Gotion High-Tech. However, the partner is not currently pursuing any plans for US projects or imports into the USA anyway. CATL and Ford did not initially respond to requests for comment.

(Report by Casey Hall, Harshita Meenaktshi and Christina Amann, edited by Ralf Banser. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at Berlin.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or Frankfurt.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)