China's CATL is open to building a US battery factory if Trump approves

• Chinese battery supplier CATL could build a factory in the US
• The decision will depend on whether the Trump administration allows the Chinese to enter the market
• CATL wanted to invest in the US but so far the government has said no

Chinese battery supplier CATL is open to building a US factory if it doesn't come The Trump administration allows itsaid the founder of this company in a recent speech.

“Initially, when we wanted to invest in the US, the US government said no,” said Robin Zeng in an interview with Reuters published on Wednesday. “For me, I'm really open-minded.”

CATL has it so far limited its US presence in licensing deals with car makers. Ford in 2023 announced a Michigan battery plant to build lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which the automaker said is key to EV affordability. The battery cells produced there will be based on CATL technology, but the plant itself will be owned by Ford. An April report said General Motors may be seeking a similar deal with CATL.

Even before Trump, who launched the program trade war with China in his first term in 2017, he was elected to a second term as president, that arrangement was in jeopardy.

Under current Biden administration policy, four vehicles The batteries are made in China they are not eligible for the state's EV tax credit, nor are vehicles manufactured by subsidiaries of their parent companies in which the Chinese government has a stake. The Republican bill, opposed by the current administration, would also eliminate tax credits for EVs that use Chinese battery technology licensed by US automakers.

But while Trump wants to ban imports of cars from Chinese car companies – even if they are assembled in other countries like Mexico – Reuters notes that in the August debate he was open to Chinese firms building cars in the US.

CATL Freevoy plug-in hybrid battery pack

“We will give incentives, and if China and other countries they want to come here and sell cars, they will build plants here, and they will hire our workers,” Trump said in August. Zeng seems hopeful that this policy will also apply to batteries, telling Reuters that “I hope that in the future they will be open to investment. “

It remains to be seen which batteries CATL will produce in the US, but the company is currently expanding its business to supply batteries for commercial vehicles in the domestic market, and recently introduced a hybrid battery pack designed for plug-in hybrids.