■A nerve war over biden’s veto
LG intends to dispel concerns about local jobs
SK “Invest 5 billion won in Georgia by 2025”
Preliminary decision on battery patent infringement on the 19th
viewer
As the deadline for the US President Joe Biden’s veto against the U.S. battery import ban imposed on SK Innovation by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) for violating LG Energy Solutions’ trade secrets is approaching, both sides are heating up. Eventually, LG Energy Solutions even indicated that SK Innovation’s battery plant in Georgia, the US, was closed by an ITC ruling, so that it could participate as a partner if a third party proceeds to take over. This is interpreted as an intent to block the possibility of President Biden’s veto, who feared a job contraction.
According to industry sources on the 14th, Jong-Hyun Kim, President of LG Energy Solutions, sent a letter to Georgia Senator Rapier Warnock on the 10th, saying, “LG is ready to do anything to help Georgia residents and workers.” At the same time, he explained that if SK Innovation’s Georgia plant was closed by the ITC ruling and an outside investor took over it, LG could participate as a partner. It is intended to alleviate local concerns that thousands of jobs could be lost if SK Innovation’s Georgia plant was closed by the ITC ruling. In addition, it is interpreted for the purpose of blocking President Biden’s veto of ITC’s decision for this reason. President Biden can veto the 10-year ban on the import of SK Innovation’s batteries by ITC. The event deadline is until the 11th of the following month.
SK Innovation is engaged in an all-out war to draw out President Biden’s veto power. SK Innovation is persuading the White House and Georgian politicians to invest $5 billion in factories in Georgia and employ 6,000 people by 2025. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp recently told President Biden, “SK’s explanation that if the president does not overturn the ITC decision that will render the Georgia plant inoperative, it will have no choice but to close the plant.” “It is in line with President Biden’s goal of shifting to electric vehicles and providing local workers with high-income and decent jobs.”
Meanwhile, on the 19th (local time), a preliminary decision on the case of infringement of battery patent rights that LG Energy Solutions filed against SK Innovation to ITC comes out. As a separate lawsuit derived from the trade secret infringement dispute process, if LG Energy Solutions wins in patent infringement lawsuits, SK Innovation’s position is expected to further shrink. On the contrary, if SK Innovation wins, it will have a chance to counterattack.
/ Reporter Han Jae-young [email protected]
< 저작권자 ⓒ 서울경제, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지 >