Kemp renews call for Biden to disapprove trade commission ruling on SK Innovation
(The Center Square) – Gov. Brian Kemp has made a second plea to President Joe Biden to reverse a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling against a Georgia factory in order to secure jobs and the state’s investment in the project.
Kemp sent a letter Friday to Biden, asking the president to overturn the ITC’s February ruling against SK Innovation (SKI). The ruling bans the company from importing battery parts and components for 10 years, with some exceptions.
The Korean company is building an electric vehicle battery plant in Commerce, which Kemp said would employ nearly 2,600 people and represents a nearly $2.6 billion economic investment. Kemp’s letter said SKI would shutter the facility if the ITC ruling stood.
“On behalf of the people of Georgia, I respectfully request that you exercise the authority granted to you under law to disapprove the ITC ruling on grounds that it is contrary to the public interest and will seriously jeopardize your administration’s environmental and economic goals,” Kemp wrote.
The ITC ruled Feb. 10 that SKI stole 22 trade secrets from a competitor, LG Energy Solution. Representatives for LG said the ruling should not be reversed because it would not hinder SKI’s operations since it allows the company to continue making batteries for Ford for four years and Volkswagen for two years.
“The president should not veto this decision; to do so would be turning a blind eye to SKI’s wrongful actions in detriment of LGES, an innovator that deserves the protection of the law,” LG counsel Dave Callahan said last month.
Kemp said the Commerce factory was projected to manufacture 22 GWh of electric vehicle battery capacity a year, which is enough battery capacity for 330,000 electric cars. SKI also agreed to expand the plant to employ more than 6,000 people and produce 50 GWh a year by 2025. Georgia and Jackson County, where Commerce is located, gifted SKI $300 million worth of grants, incentives and property to secure the project.
“Simply put: the livelihoods of thousands of Georgians are now in your hands.” Kemp wrote. “This critical opportunity requires us to work together for the good of my state and our country.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported LG CEO Jong Hyun Kim sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock on Wednesday, saying LG “is prepared to do whatever we can to help the people and workers of Georgia” and suggested LG could open a factory in Georgia. The company announced Friday it plans to invest $4.5 billion in two new plants in the U.S., but did not disclose the locations.
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