 |
| Vehicles stored at a dockyard near Hyundai Motor's factory in Ulsan, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, are seen in this Sept. 16, 2022, file photo. Courtesy of Ulsan City |
The government welcomed Saturday new guidelines the U.S. Treasury Department announced the previous day on tax credits for electric vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), saying it "substantially" reflected South Korea's opinion.
The industry ministry said the proposed guidelines "substantially relieves the uncertainty of the domestic battery and material industries" and will help "strengthen the battery supply chain cooperation between South Korea and the U.S."
"We will help the domestic businesses to view the IRA as a new opportunity and respond to it proactively," Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang said in a press release, adding the government and President Yoon Suk Yeol have communicated with Washington to produce a favorable result for the country.
The ministry expects there will be no need for Korean battery makers to change their current manufacturing process as a key material used in batteries was excluded from the list of battery components that has certain requirements for a vehicle to get a maximum $7,500 tax credit in the new IRA guidelines.
According to the ministry, sales of Korean-made eco-friendly vehicles in the United States have been recovering since December despite the IRA, with the increase in sales of commercial vehicles that receive tax benefits.
In February, Korea exported 13,000 automobiles to the U.S. and increased its proportion of eco-friendly vehicle shipments there to 7.3 percent, up from 5.1 percent in December. (Yonhap)
![[ANALYSIS] China's ban on Micron tests Washington-Seoul alliance](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/1785a57b07ae45a7b7db49fdf4acd720.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Long-awaited extension of Korean Pavilion at Venice Biennale to be pushed forward](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/d8d5090875824ce08a90bb2c5a8f8c05.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
