June 6 (Reuters) - Chinese battery companies with ties

to Ford and Volkswagen should be banned from shipping goods to

the U.S., a group of Republican lawmakers said, alleging their

supply chains use forced labor, the Wall Street Journal reported

on Thursday.

China's Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL),

a partner to Ford, and Gotion High Tech, a battery

company partially owned by Volkswagen, should be added

immediately to an import ban list, the WSJ said, citing letters

sent by the lawmakers to the Biden administration.

EV battery maker CATL's shares slumped more than 7% on

Friday.

The lawmakers called for CATL and Gotion to be added to what

is known as the entity list under the Uyghur Forced Labor

Prevention Act, the paper reported.

The list restricts the import of goods tied to what the U.S.

government has characterised as an ongoing genocide of

minorities in China's Xinjiang region.

Ford, Volkswagen, Gotion, and CATL did not immediately

respond to a Reuters request for comment.