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| SK Innovation, a lithium-ion battery manufacturer of SK Group, called the U.S. International Trade Commission's (ITC) ruling, Feb. 10, "catastrophic" in a motion submitted to the ITC this month. Korea Times file |
By Yi Whan-woo
SK Innovation (SKI), a lithium-ion battery manufacturer of SK Group, called a recent U.S. trade panel's ban against its products "catastrophic," arguing the decision could harm not only the firm's U.S. operation but also the American public interest.
In a motion filed to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), SKI requested not to enforce the remedial orders the ITC made on Feb. 10, in the conclusion of a multi-billion trade dispute between SKI and its cross-town rival LG Chem.
"The commission's remedial orders are catastrophic. They will deal immediate and long-lasting harm not only to SK, but also to the American public at large," SKI said in a motion posted on ITC website.
The company submitted the motion in early March. The ITC reviewed the motion, took out sensitive legal clauses that necessarily should not be disclosed to the public, and released it around March 22, according to SKI.
In February, the ITC ruled in favor of LG Chem that accused SKI of stealing battery technologies from its spinoff unit LG Energy Solution (LGES).
Under the ruling, SKI was banned from import, domestic production and sales of its batteries used for electric vehicles (EVs) in the U.S. for 10 years.
The exclusion orders will remain effective unless U.S. President Joe Bien exercises his veto right and overturns it.
SKI has appealed to Biden. He has a 60-day presidential review period after the ruling, which will end April 11, to overturn the decision.
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| SK Innovation's $2.6 billion battery plant being built in Georgia is jeopardized following the U.S. International Trade Commission's (ITC) ruling against its business activities in the U.S. Korea Times file |
SKI also said the ITC rulings "destroy the economic viability of SK's investment in battery production in Georgia and will rationally and inevitably lead to its abandonment."
The construction is underway in Georgia for SKI's $2.6 billion battery plant with 2,600 planned workers. SKI viewed the ruling will accordingly "cause the loss of the thousands of domestic jobs and environmental benefits that the project would have brought."
The company went onto to argue the harm to third parties such as Ford and Volkswagen of America through delays to their projects is "also manifest."
The ITC made some exceptions for them, permitting SKI to import components for domestic production of batteries for Ford's EV F-150 program for four years, and for Volkswagen America's MEB electric vehicle line for two years.
SKI claimed the exceptions still "do not allow SK to recover any significant fraction of its capital investment, and thus do not change its calculus to terminate construction of the Georgia plant."
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| Lee Myeong-young, senior member of SK Innovation's board committee, speaks during this year's annual shareholders' meeting at SK Group's headquarters in downtown Seoul, Friday. Yonhap |
The battery dispute between the Korean firms has been prolonged outside the court. In their respective annual meeting of shareholders, LG Chem demanded "proportionate" compensation from SKI while SKI said it would not accept the demand for a settlement amount of 3 trillion won ($26 billion).
LG Chem and LGES both said they have no comment on SKI's move.
