LG Chem and SK Innovation will settle their trade-secret dispute that had prompted SK Innovation to threaten to abandon business in the U.S.
In February, the U.S. International Trade Commission hit SK Innovation with a 10-year ban on importing batteries and the materials needed to make them following a complaint from LG Chem that its rival had misappropriated trade secrets. SK Innovation had been pleading with President Joe Biden to overrule the ITC but SK and LG have since managed to reach a settlement.
As part of the deal, SK has agreed to pay $1.8 billion in cash and royalties to LG. The two companies have also agreed not to sue each other for the next 10 years.
In a statement, Biden said the settlement was “a win for American workers and the American auto industry.”
Read Also: SK Innovation Threatens To Pull Battery Business From The U.S., Move To Europe Or China
“We need a strong, diversified and resilient U.S.-based electric vehicle battery supply chain, so we can supply the growing global demand for these vehicles and components – creating good-paying jobs here at home, and laying the groundwork for the jobs of tomorrow,” he added.
Thanks to this settlement, SK Innovation will finish building a lithium-ion EV battery plant in Commerce, Georgia that will supply batteries to Ford and Volkswagen. This facility is expected to provide 2,600 jobs in the local area.
NPR reports that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai helped to facilitate the settlement and applauded the deal.
“After significant engagement with a range of stakeholders, we are in a stronger position to drive innovation and growth of clean energy technology envisioned in the American Jobs Plan while also respecting the rights of technology innovators at the heart of trade and manufacturing policy,” Tai said in a statement.
SK Innovation’s Georgia factory