KOTRA: "Let's Enter the US Battery Market with Proper Understanding"
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced on the 25th that they held the "2024 Secondary Battery Investment and Entry Strategy Online Briefing for the U.S. Market" on the 23rd to support Korean companies' entry into the U.S. secondary battery market.
This event was organized to support Korean companies considering investment entry into the rapidly growing U.S. secondary battery market. To help understand various matters to consider during the actual investment process, the program was developed in collaboration with the North American Association of Battery Manufacturers (NAATBatt).
The briefing featured industry, legal, and real estate experts from NAATBatt, K&L Gates, JLL, and Nomura Research Institute (NRI) as speakers. They provided a comprehensive information package necessary for Korean companies to enter the U.S. market, covering industry status, incentives, regulations, labor, taxation, site selection, and entry strategies.
The first session was led by NAATBatt, which explained the overall industry trends in the secondary battery market. Following that, K&L Gates introduced tax reductions and subsidy benefits in the U.S. battery industry. In particular, they provided detailed explanations on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC) guidelines, which are major concerns for Korean companies. JLL mentioned factors to consider when selecting sites in the U.S., emphasizing that as projects grow larger, the suitability of the site, labor, logistics, and power conditions become increasingly important.
Additionally, Nomura Research Institute introduced current issues and challenges faced at each stage of the battery value chain, from battery mineral mining to battery recycling. They projected that Korean companies, which have strengths in product quality and technology, could effectively leverage North America's strong electric vehicle transition policies to gain significant opportunities to enter the North American battery supply chain.
Brian Engle, President of NAATBatt, stated, "International cooperation across the supply chain is crucial to building a robust and sustainable battery industry," adding, "Collaboration between NAATBatt and Korean companies is expected to accelerate the development and research of the battery industry, benefiting companies in both countries."
Park Seong-ho, Head of KOTRA's North America Regional Headquarters, said, "We will support our companies to minimize trial and error when investing and entering the U.S. market."
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