Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General, Biden urged Biden to exercise his right to veto SK-LG battery dispute

Input 2021.03.24 14:13

Sally Yeats, a former vice minister of justice for the Obama administration, urged President Biden to exercise his veto over a lawsuit between SK Innovation and LG Energy Solutions infringement of trade secrets by the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

24th Foreign Affairs Department SK innovation (096770)According to Yates, former Vice Minister of the United States was recently hired as an advisor to SK Innovation’s US business. “President Biden should reject an ITC ruling that neutralizes electric vehicle battery factories in northeastern Georgia,” the New York Times reported on the 23rd.

Former Vice Minister Yeats said the ITC’s ruling would undermine four important US policy goals. “The ITC ruling threatens the 2600 jobs that SK Innovation will create in Georgia.” Georgia Governor Brian Camp called for the president to exercise his veto for the same reason.

In addition, it will be an obstacle for the United States to cope with climate change through the expansion of electric vehicles, and the United States will lag behind China in the global electric vehicle battery manufacturing market, which undermines the national security interests of the United States. It also pointed out that Ford and Volkswagen, which decided to purchase SK’s batteries, would limit their ability to meet the US-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement.

AJC, a daily newspaper in Georgia, quoted former Vice Minister Yeats’s remarks, saying, “SK and LG will argue on the same issue in federal court regardless of whether or not they exercise the U.S. presidential veto.” It is better to have the dispute be dealt with in federal court.”

Former Vice Minister Yeats is a highly renowned person in the United States that has been mentioned as the Minister of Justice in the Biden administration, so the industry is paying attention to whether his remarks can lead to the presidential veto.

The U.S. President’s right to veto the ITC ruling is until the 11th of next month. If President Biden does not exercise his veto during this period, SK Innovation will be banned from producing and importing batteries in the United States for 10 years, except for Volkswagen and Ford, which received a grace period of two and four years.

Initially, the industry predicted that LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation would reach an agreement, but negotiations are being delayed due to the wide gap in the amount of settlement that the two companies hope for. It is known that LG Energy Solution requires more than 3 trillion won, while SK Innovation wants to reach an agreement in the 1 trillion won range.

Earlier, the board of directors of SK Innovation held an audit committee and expressed an opinion that “if the compensation required by LG Energy Solutions is excessive, it cannot be accepted.”