SEOUL/SHANGHAI : Chinese battery materials firms are ramping up investment in South Korea, announcing projects worth at least $4.4 billion this year to try to meet U.S. electric vehicle tax credit rules aimed at lowering reliance on China's supply chains.
The IRA, designed to wean the U.S. off the Chinese supply chain for electric vehicles , will also eventually bar tax credits if any EV battery components were manufactured by a"foreign entity of concern", a provision aimed at China. That hasn't stopped Chinese companies from setting up a series of joint projects with South Korean partners.
"Chinese firms often sign deals with South Korean battery makers to diversify their own product portfolios as part of strategies to alleviate geopolitical risks in light of the IRA," a South Korean company official familiar with the matter told Reuters.