The White House has laid out electric vehicle goals in its infrastructure plan, including aiming to deploy hundreds of thousands of charging stations. | David Goldman/AP PhotoPresident Joe Biden’s ambitious electric vehicle plan has run into a huge hurdle with U.S. trade law, forcing him to choose between swing-state jobs and American intellectual property rules that have come under intense scrutiny during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But construction of the landmark facility is being threatened by an international trade dispute. The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled in February that SK Innovation stole trade secrets from rival South Korean company LG Chem, and ordered that the U.S. block SK from importing components to build batteries. Although the independent agency gave a two-year grace period for Volkswagen and a four-year cushion for Ford, SK says the ruling will likely force it to abandon the factory.
resists calls from developing nations at the World Trade Organization to lift intellectual property restrictions for Covid vaccines SK Innovation, Georgia's governor and the state’s two newly elected Democratic senators are pushing the president to dismiss the ITC ruling, warning that Chinese companies may replace the lost battery capacity if the plant is scrapped. China is by far the global leader in battery manufacturing today, with more than 90 major factories, compared with three in the U.S., according to analytics firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
“Multiple investors and manufacturers … will be interested in the Commerce plant due to increased demand for electric vehicle batteries,” LG CEO Jong Hyun Kim wrote last month in a letter to Sen. Raphael Warnock . Some new car and truck models may not qualify for tariff-free treatment under the trade deal if they don’t have American-made batteries, added Kristin Dziczek, a senior vice president at the Center for Automotive Research.
Source: Real Estate Daily Report (realestatedailyreport.net)
Battery planet = Environment unfriendly.. Easy choice... Control the poisoning of the Environment is clear in this industry... Ask Florida...