CHICAGO, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Ford Motor Company, a U.S. multinational automobile manufacturer, on Monday halted the construction of a 3.5-billion-U.S.-dollar electric vehicle battery plant in Marshall, a city in the central south of the U.S. state of Michigan.

"We're pausing work, and we're going to limit spending on construction at Marshall until we're confident about our ability to competitively run the plant," the Detroit News reported on Monday, citing the company's spokesman T.R. Reid.

A "number of considerations" were at play behind the company's decision, which takes effect on Monday, he said without disclosing whether the UAW's ongoing strike and its crosstown rivals were a factor.

"We haven't made a final decision about the investment there," said Reid.

The 2.5-million-square-foot battery park, which is called "Blue Oval Battery Park Michigan," would be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford to employ 2,500 people with pay ranging from 20 to 50 dollars an hour.

Ford planned to license battery technology from China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), the world's leading LFP battery maker, but CATL would not receive state tax incentives.

The project met with some pushback from the local community, who opposed the behind-the-scenes negotiations that landed the deal, questioned the use of agricultural land and expressed concerns about Ford's relationship with CATL.

The plant was one of four cornerstone projects around which state lawmakers and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer built the state's newest job-creating incentive program -- the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund -- in 2021.