Thursday, November 14, 2024

Exclusive-China battery giant CATL would build US plant if Trump allows it

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NINGDE, China (Reuters) – CATL, the world’s top battery maker, will consider building a U.S. plant if President-elect Donald Trump opens the door to Chinese investment in the electric-vehicle supply chain, the company’s founder and chairman, Robin Zeng, told Reuters.

“Originally, when we wanted to invest in the U.S., the U.S. government said no,” the Chinese billionaire said in an interview last week. “For me, I’m really open-minded.”

Chinese electric-car and battery makers have been shut out of the U.S. market through a variety of protectionist trade measures supported by both Democrats and Republicans including Trump, who launched a broader trade war with China during his first presidential term starting in 2017. China’s EV and battery firms, which are heavily subsidized by its government, have been targeted with some of the steepest trade barriers out of competitive and national-security concerns.

Chinese-made batteries do not qualify for consumer EV subsidies enacted during the Biden administration, which also moved to block any vehicle with Chinese connected-car technology. Chinese EV imports are subject to a 100% tariff, an effective ban.

A Republican bill opposed by the Biden White House would go further, limiting EV-purchase incentives for cars powered by Chinese battery technology licensed by American companies such as Ford and Tesla.

The trade barriers have blocked some of the world’s leading battery and EV companies, including CATL and its largest battery competitor, BYD, which might otherwise help accelerate the U.S. EV transition. Unlike CATL, BYD also makes electric cars and now rivals Tesla for the global EV sales lead.

Trump wants to prevent Chinese auto imports but has said he remains open to Chinese automakers building vehicles in the United States. Trump told Reuters in an August interview: “We’re going to give incentives, and if China and other countries want to come here and sell the cars, they’re going to build plants here, and they’re going to hire our workers.”

Such comments have kept Zeng interested in a U.S. expansion for CATL. “I do hope that in the future they are open to investments,” he said.

Zeng’s comments were the first made by a major Chinese supplier to U.S. automakers since Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 election. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

CATL has restricted its presence in the U.S. market to battery-production licensing deals. Ford is opening a Michigan plant to build low-cost lithium-phosphate batteries under a licensing deal with CATL for its Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning pickup.

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