South Korea’s biggest electric car batterymakers and Hyundai Motor Co. have expressed concern over new U.S. legislation aimed at boosting domestic production of EVs and reducing the use of Chinese materials, moves they say could hurt their competitiveness.
Korean trade ministry officials met with Hyundai Motor, LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK On Co. to listen to their “concerns and difficulties” about the measures in the tax and energy bill, the ministry said in a statement Aug. 11. Chief among these are the need to assemble EVs in North America and to quickly end a reliance on China for the battery supply chain in order for the vehicles to qualify for a maximum $7,500 tax credit.
