SK Innovation or withdrawing battery business from the U.S. cost tens of billions of won

The company is considering transferring battery production in the United States to Europe or China.

South Korea’s SK Innovation (SK Innovation) said on Tuesday that if U.S. President Biden does not overturn its latest ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) before April 11, the company will consider including battery All options including business withdrawal from the United States.

A spokesperson for the company told Reuters that SK Innovation has been consulting relevant experts to discuss specific methods for withdrawing battery business from the United States. 'We are considering transferring the battery production in the United States to Europe or China, which will cost the company tens of billions of won.'

In the past six months, SK Innovation and LG Chem's LG Energy Solution (LG Energy Solution) have been involved in disputes in North America due to SK Innovation's alleged misappropriation of 22 items related to electric vehicle battery technology. Trade secrets.

Just last month, ITC chose to side with LG and issued a 10-year restriction order prohibiting the import of SK’s lithium-ion batteries into the United States.

If the two companies reach a settlement, the above ruling will be invalid. However, ITC's ruling on SK may also be overturned by Biden, because SK has been supplying electric vehicle batteries to manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Ford and Hyundai, and the United States is one of its most critical markets.

SK Innovation warned that if the Biden administration does not use the 60-day presidential review period to overturn previous rulings, the company will be forced to stop building a $2.6 billion battery production plant in Georgia. Just last week, SK Innovation submitted a proposal to ITC, hoping that the other party would not implement the previous trade rulings, saying that these orders were 'catastrophic' for the company and harmed the public interest.

Of course, the latest ITC ruling also includes some exemptions. For example, SK Innovation can import parts and components for the production of Ford EV F-150 batteries in the United States. The relevant period is four years; in addition, the company also You can use the MEB electric vehicle production line of Volkswagen's American branch for a two-year period.

So far, this is the most radical message from SK Innovation on the future development of its US business. The company completed the construction of its first electric car battery plant in Georgia, USA last year, and is currently building it there The second production base is expected to be completed in 2023. The combined annual production capacity of these two plants will reach 200 gigawatt-hours, enough to produce 250,000 electric vehicles and create about 2,600 local jobs in the United States.

Among them, the first factory is scheduled to officially operate next year.

'The company is considering all options, including abandoning the Georgia factory, if the litigation-related issues are not resolved.' SK Innovation spokesperson said that they have decided to formally oppose ITC's decision, the latter's ruling To the company's unbearable, this ten-year commercial ban is too harsh, even though ITC has allowed a four-year grace period for Volkswagen and Ford.

SK Innovation also claimed in the document that ITC had serious legal errors. “They did not determine whether these so-called The scope of 22 so-called basic trade secrets fully defined by innovation or other organizations and individuals related to this lawsuit.'