WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US International Trade Commission (ITC) on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against chemical and electric vehicle (EV) battery maker LG Chem Ltd, which accused its rival SK Innovation Co Ltd of disclosing trade secrets related to Misuse EV. battery technology.
The ITC has said it will issue a limited ten-year exclusion order, but will allow SK to import components for domestic production of lithium-ion batteries, battery cells, battery modules and battery packs for Ford Motor Co’s four-year EV F-150 program, and for two years the Volkswagen line of the MEB electric vehicle for the North American region.
The ITC said the decision would enable automakers to switch to new providers for these programs.
LG Chem’s full filter LG Energy Solution praised the ruling.
“SKI’s total disregard of our warnings and intellectual property rights has given us no choice but to pursue this matter,” said Jong Hyun Kim, CEO of LG Energy Solution. He said the company would “further strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights.”
SK Innovation said in a statement that it regretted the ITC’s decision “but it is a relief that we will continue to supply Ford and Volkswagen.”
SK noted that there was a 60-day period in which President Joe Biden could decide to reverse the ruling. Bidding has made electric vehicles and the reduction of vehicle emissions a top priority.
LG Chem has shut down its battery business renamed LG Energy Solution, an EV battery supplier for Tesla Inc and General Motors Co., and in April 2019 filed its US complaint against SK Innovation, alleging that its competitor stole trade secrets.
It tried to stop SK from bringing batteries and components to the United States, as well as the manufacturing systems needed for U.S. production, which is expected to begin in 2022.
SK Innovation is building two EV battery factories in Georgia to manufacture batteries for us in Volkswagen and Ford electric vehicles. LG Chem has set up an EV battery cell plant with GM in Ohio.
Ford said the “ITC decision supports our plans to launch the fully electric Ford F-150 mid-2022.”
Volkswagen and Ford had earlier warned that a US legal battle between South Korean battery manufacturers could disrupt supplies of key EV parts and cost US jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. VW did not immediately comment on Wednesday.
Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Heekyong Yang in Seoul; Edited by Chris Reese and David Gregorio