Battery Trade Dispute Could Test Biden’s Green Policy Plans
Battery makers LG Chem and SK Innovation await a key decision from the International Trade Commission that could hamper EV production in the U.S.
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
The Biden administration’s first test of its climate change policy could come this week in a legal dispute over battery components seen as key to growing electric vehicle adoption in the U.S.
The U.S. International Trade Commission is scheduled to decide Feb. 10 whether to ban imports of lithium-ion battery components that the South Korean battery maker SK Innovation will need to produce battery cells for the electric Ford F-150 and Volkswagen ID.4 at a factory under construction in Georgia. LG Chem, a supplier to such carmakers as General Motors Co. and Tesla Inc., and a competitor of SK also based in South Korea, filed its claim in April 2019, alleging that SK’s batteries use stolen trade secrets.