Biden’s EV Vision Hits Supply Chain Snags Sourcing BatteriesInteresting article that touches on issues US carmakers are facing making their supply chains compliant, and how a Chinese company is attempting to circumvent US IRA/Treasury guidance by setting up processing plants in Korea and sourcing CM's from countries the US has FTA's with. Seems to fly in the face of the IRA intent and marginally allowable at best.
(first URL is summary of complete article found in second URL for which subscription (or a quick print screen) is required). Below are exerpts of first URL ...
... in the year and a half since Congress passed his signature Inflation Reduction Act, some of the world’s best-known automotive companies — key players in that supply chain — find themselves in a precarious situation: the stringent requirements to produce batteries sourced from the US and its free-trade partners risks making them uncompetitive on costs. ...
US Treasury guidelines now effectively cut Beijing out of the equation. That made searching for affordable non-Chinese suppliers of the metals harder. And because China is the dominant producer and processor of the key materials in batteries, the guidelines risk undermining Biden’s primary aim to develop the domestic EV market.
But mining companies and the labor unions hoping to fast-track the domestic production of critical minerals argue that the US won’t ever be able to build a competitive market if it continues to allow China-subsidized materials and parts to keep flowing through the supply chain. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-02-21/biden-s-ev-vision-hits-supply-chain-snags-with-sourcing-batteries https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-ev-battery-supply-chain-alternatives/