Billion-dollar battery plant pauses construction amid electric vehicle and tariff uncertainty
By JEFFREY COLLINS COLUMBIA S C AP A Japanese company has halted construction on a billion factory in South Carolina to help make batteries for electric BMWs citing approach and domain uncertainty While Automotive Resource Supply Corp didn t specify what those problems are South Carolina s Republican governor explained the company is dealing with the prospective loss of federal tax breaks for electric conveyance buyers and incentives for EV businesses as well as tariff uncertainties from President Donald Trump s administration What we re doing is urging caution let things play out because all of the these changes are taking place Gov Henry McMaster announced AESC revealed the suspension in construction of its plant in Florence on Thursday Due to framework and region uncertainty we are pausing construction at our South Carolina facility at this time the company s declaration disclosed AESC promised to restart construction although it didn t say when and vowed to meet its commitment to hire workers and invest billion The company stated it has already invested billion in the Florence plant The battery maker based in Japan also has facilities in China the United Kingdom France Spain and Germany In the U S AESC has a plant in Tennessee and is building one in Kentucky The comment didn t mention any changes with other plants The South Carolina plant is supposed to sell battery cells to BMW which is building its own battery assembly site near its giant auto plant in Greer BMW commented the construction pause by AESC doesn t change its plans to open its plant in AESC has already rolled back its South Carolina plans They publicized a second factory on the Florence site but then commented earlier this year that their first plant should be able to handle BMW s demand That prompted South Carolina personnel to withdraw million in help they planned to provide The company is still getting million in grants from the South Carolina Department of Commerce and million in bonds and the agency stated a construction pause won t prompt them to claw back that offer Related Articles Wall Street gains ground following a solid jobs analysis Midea recalling million of its popular air conditioners due to mold concern Employers add a solid jobs in May though hiring slows as several feasible weaknesses appear Goodbye Mr Nice Guy Investors dump Tesla on bet Trump may lash out at Musk through his car company Content First-time home buyers faced greater headwinds in Q South Carolina is investing heavily in electric vehicles Volkswagen-owned Scout Motors plans to invest billion and hire people for a plant to build its new electric SUVs scheduled to open in The state has for decades made big bets on foreign manufacturers like BMW Michelin and Samsung that have paid off with an economic boom this century but there is uneasiness that Trump s flirtation with high tariffs might stagger or even ruin those central partnerships McMaster narrated people to relax as state and business leaders are talking to Trump s administration and things will work out I think the goal of the president and the administration is to have robust economic enhancement and prosperity and there is no doubt there has to be changes made in our international arrangement posture and President Trump is addressing that McMaster narrated reporters Thursday
