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ATLANTA (AP) – With a giant battery plant in northeast Georgia hanging in the balance of a trade dispute, South Korean company LG Energy Solution is now telling some Georgian officials it could build its own plant in the state though rival SK Innovation can’t continue.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that LG Energy Solution CEO Jong Hyun Kim wrote a letter to US Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock on Wednesday, saying that LG “is ready to do whatever it can to help the people and workers of Georgia” .
Kim also wrote that if another entity acquires the SK plant, LG could help run the $ 2.6 billion commercial electric vehicle battery plant, where SK plans to hire 2,600 workers.
“Many investors and manufacturers… will be interested in the Commerce plant because of the increased demand for electric vehicle batteries,” Kim wrote.
On Thursday, LG announced plans to build at least two new factories and spend more than $ 4.5 billion to manufacture electric vehicle batteries in the United States, in addition to a factory it already operates in the United States. -Bas, Michigan, a factory under construction in Lordstown, Ohio, and one he could build in Spring Hill, Tennessee. All of these factories are in partnership with General Motors.
LG’s opening comes as Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday renewed his call for President Joe Biden to overturn a federal trade decision that threatens SK’s ability to move forward.
The United States’ International Trade Commission ruled in February that SK had stolen 22 trade secrets from LG and that SK should be banned from importing, manufacturing or selling batteries in the United States for 10 years.
SK has contracts to supply batteries for a Ford F-150 electric truck and a Volkswagen electric SUV to be manufactured in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The commission said SK could supply batteries to Ford Motor Co. for four years and to Volkswagen for two years. SK can also repair and replace the batteries of Kia vehicles already sold.
A spokesperson for SK said in an emailed statement that “it is simply impossible for someone to acquire an EV battery factory and run it to produce batteries that are acceptable for a business. large automobile company. “
“LG’s monopolization of the US battery supply chain will only delay the US in its efforts to catch up with China,” the spokesperson wrote.
Biden has until April to review or block the decision and both sides are lobbying him, in a game of chess that also involves talks between the companies. SK lost the decision in part because it destroyed evidence. The commission called the decision “extraordinary” and concluded that senior SK leaders had ordered the destruction.
SK said this week that its directors had rejected LG’s compensation claims. LG said it was “unfortunate” that SK was unwilling to negotiate and said LG would accept cash, royalties on future battery sales or a stake in SK’s business.
Georgia has given $ 300 million in free land, cash and other incentives to the SK plant, which is now partially built and is slated to open in 2022.
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