WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Wednesday sided with South Korean chemical and electric vehicle (EV) battery maker LG Chem Ltd, accusing its rival between cities SK Innovation Co. Ltd. of improperly appropriating trade secrets related to EV battery technology.
The ITC said it was issuing a ten-year limited exclusion order, but would allow SK to import components for domestic production of lithium-ion batteries, battery packs, battery modules and battery packs for the EV program. Ford Motor Co.’s F-150 for four years, and for Volkswagen of America’s MEB line of electric vehicles for the North American region for two years.
The ITC said the decision would allow automakers to make the transition to new vendors for those programs.
LG Chem’s wholly-owned subsidiary, LG Energy Solution, praised the ruling.
“The total neglect of SKI in our warnings and intellectual property rights gave us no choice but to file this case,” said Jong Hyun Kim, CEO of LG Energy Solution. He said the company “would further strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights in the future.”
SK Innovation, in a statement, said it regretted the ITC’s decision “but it is a relief that we continue to supply Ford and Volkswagen.”
SK noted that there was a 60-day presidential review period in which President Joe Biden could decide to reverse the sentence. Biden has made electric vehicles a top priority and reduce vehicle emissions.
LG Chem separated its battery business renamed LG Energy Solution, an EV battery supplier by Tesla Inc. and General Motors Co. He filed his trade complaints in the U.S. against SK Innovation in April 2019 alleging that his rival stole trade secrets.
He tried to prevent SK from bringing batteries and components to the United States, as well as the manufacturing systems needed for U.S. production, which is scheduled to begin in 2022.
SK Innovation is building two EV battery factories in Georgia to manufacture batteries for Volkswagen and Ford electric vehicles. LG Chem has established an EV battery cell risk plant with GM in Ohio.
Ford said the “ITC decision supports our plans to bring the all-electric Ford F-150 to market by mid-2022.”
Volkswagen and Ford had previously warned that a legal U.S. lawsuit between South Korean battery manufacturers could disrupt the supply of key parts of the electric vehicle and cost jobs in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. VW did not comment immediately on Wednesday.
Reports by David Shepardson in Washington and Heekyong Yang in Seoul; Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio