- Chinese battery producer CATL says it would consider building a plant in the US if Donald Trump clears the way.
- Chairman Robin Zeng said that the US government had previously blocked investment, but he would be willing to reboot plans.
- President-elect Trump wants to block Chinese car imports but has said he would allow those same automakers to build cars in the US.
Electric cars fitted with batteries from China’s CATL aren’t currently eligible for tax credits due to restrictions in the Inflation Reduction Act, but that could change with some help from Donald Trump. CATL says it would consider building a battery plant inside the US if Trump gives the project the green light.
CATL’s chairman Robing Zeng said that previous approaches to American lawmakers had been rebuffed, but hinted that he hadn’t forgotten about the idea altogether.
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“Originally, when we wanted to invest in the U.S., the U.S. government said no,” Zeng said to Reuters. “For me, I’m really open-minded. I do hope that in the future they are open to investments.”
Although both Democrats and Republicans, including President-elect Trump, want to keep China-built Chinese cars out of the US, Trump has previously indicated that he wouldn’t be opposed to those same automakers setting up factories in America to build cars, creating jobs in the process.
“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,” Trump previously said.
It’s logical to assume that the same welcome would apply to companies in the supplier industry like CATL, who might find it easier to get the go-ahead from the US government than a Chinese automaker would, because lawmakers are concerned about the security threat posed by Chinese connected cars.
Due to current legal restrictions, CATL doesn’t currently build batteries under its own banner in the US, but it has licensed its tech to Ford, who will soon open its BueOval Battery Park in Michigan to churn out lithium phosphate (LFP) batteries for the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E.