The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced on Feb. 23 that they held an online briefing on the 2024 Secondary Battery U.S. Investment Strategy to help Korean companies break into the U.S. secondary battery market.
The event was organized to support Korean companies wishing to invest in the U.S. secondary battery market growing rapidly. The program was organized in collaboration with the National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Batteries (NAATBatt) to help Korean companies understand issues that need considering in actual investment processes.
Speakers included industrial, legal and real estate experts from the NAATBatt, K&L Gates, JLL, and the Nomura Research Institute (NRI). The briefing provided packages of information that Korean companies need when entering the U.S. market, including industry status, incentives, regulations, labor, taxation, site selection, and entry strategies.
The first session featured the U.S. NAATBatt, which explained overall industry trends in the secondary battery market. K&L Gates made a presentation about tax breaks and subsidies for the U.S. battery industry. K&L Gates also explained detailed guidelines on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and foreign entities of concern (FEOCs). Korean companies have a significant interest in these topics. JLL discussed factors to consider when selecting business sites in the United States, emphasizing that the larger the projects, the more important site suitability, labor, logistics and electric power conditions become.
The Nomura Research Institute introduced current problems and issues faced at each stage of value chains from the mining of battery minerals to the recycling of batteries. Korean companies, with their strengths in product quality and technology, may have a golden opportunity to enter North American battery supply chains if they effectively utilize North America’s strong EV transition policies.
“International collaboration across supply chains is critical to creating a robust and sustainable battery industry,” said Brian Engle, president of NAATBatt. “The collaboration between NAATBatt and Korean companies will accelerate battery industry development and research, benefiting both Korean and U.S. companies.”
“We will closely monitor the U.S. secondary battery industry and policy trends to help Korean companies minimize trials and errors when investing in the United States,” said Park Sung-ho, head of KOTRA’s North American Headquarters.