Biden, ITC dilemma… Manufacturing pledge and political burden pressure

US President Joe Biden was contemplating the battery war between LG Chem and SK Innovation. First, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) gave LG’s hand.

However, the backlash from Georgia, which had high expectations for the SK plant, is not easy. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has officially demanded a veto from President Biden. Governor Kemp issued a statement on the 10th (local time), asserting that “ITC’s recent decision puts SK’s 2600 clean energy jobs and investments in innovative manufacturing at risk.”

It was pressured by President Biden, who had previously put forward the Buy American slogan and made a major commitment to supporting manufacturing and creating jobs in the United States.

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Georgia, which has emerged as a production mecca, pays attention as a political battlefield

Georgia has been one of the most politically noticed regions since the end of last year. During the presidential election in November last year, in Georgia, candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump fought a very close fight until the last minute. Eventually, candidate Biden won with a difference of 12,000 votes. However, the former President, who failed to accept the defeat, pressed his aide Governor Kemp to overturn the election results. However, Governor Kemp rejected this, and the two, once more closely related than anyone else, eventually turned their backs.

This decision was a major blow to Governor Kemp’s political journey. The New York Times (NYT) at the time pointed out that “(Trump’s refusal to request) had an impact on Governor Kemp’s political future.” During the 2018 governor’s election, the background of Governor Kemp’s victory was evaluated as President Trump’s halo. However, it is now under the criticism of former President Trump. The chances of re-election have been greatly reduced. The option left for Governor Kemp is economic development. This is why it is so urgent to maintain the SK Innovation plant.

For President Biden, Georgia is also a politically important point. He was a Democrat Huboda, who won the Republican garden in Georgia after 22 years. In addition, the Democratic Party won the Georgia senator’s election in January, amidst the bleak. The Democratic Party that occupied the White House gave the wings of the parliamentary majority party. President Biden and the Democrats are in political debt to Georgia.

This is why predictions about’possibility’ continue to come out despite the rare precedent of the exercise of veto power on ITC decisions, and in particular, veto power is rarely exercised in judgments made for infringement of trade secrets.

Georgia, located in the southeastern United States, has recently attracted attention as a manufacturing center. Global automakers, including Volvo, BMW, and Daimler, are located in the southeastern United States. As a result, it is pointed out that Georgia was able to receive a drop as a base for producing automobile batteries.

Biden’s manufacturing support, joining the Trump administration

President Biden is making a major pledge to revitalize the US manufacturing industry during his campaign and even after his inauguration. The key is not only the federal government’s direct investment of $700 billion over four years, but also the’by American plan’ to increase the use of US corporate products.

First, the Biden government announced a “by American” policy that would exclude companies that do not manufacture goods in the United States from federal procurement contracts. It emphasized’protectionism’ for this, while making the US manufacturing industry alive and job creation as core tasks in the state administration. This is in line with the Trump administration’s’America First’. The Trump administration has been leading policies to increase US investment by domestic and foreign companies for four years.

SK Innovation’s Georgia battery plant is regarded as one of the Trump administration’s major achievements, which emphasized investment by foreign companies in the US. Governor Kemp attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the battery factory in March 2019, saying, “This project is a single investment that creates the largest jobs in our state’s history.” Will” said. At the groundbreaking ceremony, then Minister of Commerce Wilbur Ross also attended and did not hide expectations for the SK battery plant.

SK Innovation’s investment in local factories 1 and 2 amounted to $2.6 billion (about KRW 3 trillion). In addition to the direct economic effects of SK Innovation’s large-scale investment, Jackson County is expected to create wages of 429 billion dollars (about 480 trillion won) from new employment for five years, as well as create approximately 10,000 additional new jobs in the region. I was looking forward to it.

This is why it is pointed out to the Biden government that it is inevitably a burden to stop production at SK Innovation’s factory, which is seeking to recover the Corona 19 economy through job creation.