ATLANTA (AP) – With a giant battery factory in northeast Georgia clinging to a trade dispute, South Korean company LG Energy Solution is now telling Georgia officials it could build its own plant in the state if rival SK Innovation may not continue.
Journal of the Constitution of Atlanta LG Energy Solution CEO Jong Hyun Kim wrote a letter to US Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock on Wednesday, saying LG was “ready to do everything we can to help the people and workers of Georgia.”
Kim also wrote that if another entity acquires the SK plant, LG could help manage the $ 2.6 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Commerce, where SK plans to hire 2,600 workers.
“More investors and manufacturers … will be interested in the factory because of the increased demand for batteries for electric vehicles,” Kim wrote.
On Thursday, LG announced plans to build at least two new plants and spend more than $ 4.5 billion to make batteries for electric vehicles in the United States, in addition to a plant it already operates in the Netherlands, Michigan, one on building it in Lordstown, Ohio and one he could build in Spring Hill, Tennessee. All these plants are in partnership with General Motors.
LG’s overture comes as Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday renewed his call for President Joe Biden to overturn a federal business decision that threatens SK’s ability to move forward.
The 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 for the supply of 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 Ford Motor Co. batteries. for four years and Volkswagen for two years. SK can repair and replace batteries for Kia vehicles that have already been sold.
A SK spokesman said in an e-mail statement that “it is simply impossible for anyone to purchase an EV battery plant and run it to produce batteries acceptable to a major car company.”
“LG’s monopolization of the US battery supply chain will push the US back only in its efforts to catch up with China,” the spokesman wrote.
Biden has until April to review or block the decision and both sides are lobbying him, part of a chess game that also involves discussions between companies. SK partially lost the decision because it destroyed the evidence. The Commission called the measure “extraordinary” and concluded that top SK executives had ordered the destruction.
SK said this week that its directors had rejected LG’s claims. LG said it was “unfortunate” that SK would not be willing to negotiate and said LG would accept cash, royalties for future battery sales or a share of ownership in SK’s business.
Georgia has provided $ 300 million in free land, cash and other incentives for the SK plant, which is now partially built and is expected to open in 2022.