ATLANTA (AP) – With a giant battery factory in northeast Georgia hanging from the trade dispute, South Korean company LG Energy Solution is now telling some Georgia officials it could build its own factory in the state if rival SK Innovation can’t make it continue.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports LG Energy Solution CEO Jong Hyun Kim on Wednesday wrote a letter to U.S. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock saying LG “is ready to do everything we can to help the people and workers of Georgia.”
Kim also wrote that if any other entity acquires the SK plant, LG could help manage the $ 2.6 billion electric vehicle battery plant at Commerce, where SK plans to hire 2,600 workers.
“Several investors and manufacturers … will be interested in the trading plant due to the increased demand for electric vehicle batteries,” Kim wrote.
On Thursday, LG announced plans to build at least two new plants and spend more than $ 4.5 billion on electric vehicle batteries in the United States, in addition to a plant already operating in the Netherlands, Michigan, one that is under construction in Lordstown , Ohio, and one that could be built in Spring Hill, Tennessee. All these plants collaborate with General Motors.
LG’s opening comes when Republican Gov. Brian Kemp renewed his call on President Joe Biden on Friday to overturn a federal business decision that threatens SK’s ability to move forward.
The U.S. 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 ten years.
SK has contracts to supply batteries for a Ford F-150 electric truck and a Volkswagen electric SUV that will be manufactured in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The commission said SK can supply batteries to Ford Motor Co. for four years and for Volkswagen for two years. SK can also repair and replace the batteries of Kia vehicles already sold.
A SK spokesman said in an email statement that “it is simply impossible for anyone to acquire an EV battery manufacturing facility and operate it to produce batteries acceptable to a major car company.”
“LG’s monopolization of the U.S. battery supply chain will only make the United States lag behind in its effort to catch up with China,” the spokesman wrote.
Biden has until April to review or block the ruling and both sides are pressuring him, part of a chess game that also involves talks between companies. SK lost the sentence in part because it destroyed evidence. The commission called the measure “extraordinary” and concluded that SK’s top executives ordered the destruction.
SK said this week that its directors had rejected LG’s claims. LG said it was “unfortunate” that SK was unwilling to negotiate and said LG would accept cash, rights to future battery sales or a stake in SK’s business.
Georgia gave $ 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.