"CATL provides technology and support in exchange for fees without taking an equity stake, aiming to be a compromise in a difficult geopolitical environment" [CATL]
The explicit framing of the no-equity, fee-for-technology structure as a 'compromise in a difficult geopolitical environment' directly evidences the mechanism: firms are engineering deal structures to thread investment screening regimes.
Reasoning from this article
The CATL-Ford case illustrates a generalizable structural dynamic: as both the US and China tighten cross-border investment screening, firms in strategically sensitive industries will increasingly decouple technology access from ownership to preserve market access. This licensing-without-equity model is likely to proliferate across EV batteries, semiconductors, and other dual-use sectors where outright foreign ownership triggers regulatory intervention on either side.