{"id":2268,"date":"2025-06-10T17:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/?p=2268"},"modified":"2025-06-11T16:48:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T16:48:38","slug":"massive-us-battery-plant-grinds-to-a-halt-after-trumps-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/10\/massive-us-battery-plant-grinds-to-a-halt-after-trumps-tariffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive US Battery Plant Grinds To A Halt After Trump\u2019s Tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image lazyload\" alt=\"\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/P90602786_highRes_-belle-macchine-ital-copy-1024x576-1.jpg\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-17 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<ul>\n<li>AESC halted construction at its nearly finished battery plant in South Carolina.<\/li>\n<li>The company blames economic uncertainty and tariff risks for the sudden pause.<\/li>\n<li>The site that&rsquo;s set to supply BMW with EV batteries is expected to create 1,600 jobs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rising tariffs are doing more than sparking political arguments, as hey&rsquo;re reshaping where, how, and even <em>if<\/em> some companies build their next-generation manufacturing hubs. While former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">President Trump&rsquo;s<\/a> trade policies have nudged a few automakers toward building more vehicles in the United States, they&rsquo;ve also sent car prices climbing and stirred chaos in the global auto market. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-placement\">\n<div id=\"82503191-e1d1-435a-874f-9c78a2a54a2f\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"0f7e3106-c4d6-4db4-8135-c508879a76f8\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\tvar adpushup = window.adpushup  = window.adpushup || {que:[]};<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tadpushup.que.push(function() {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tif (adpushup.config.platform !== &#8220;DESKTOP&#8221;){<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;0f7e3106-c4d6-4db4-8135-c508879a76f8&#8221;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t} else {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;82503191-e1d1-435a-874f-9c78a2a54a2f&#8221;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One of the latest casualties? A $1.6 billion battery factory in South Carolina, where construction is on hold before production has even begun.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/2025\/06\/aaa-2025-ev-interest-hits-six-year-low-us-buyers-cite-cost-fears\/\">EV Support In America Is Falling Faster Than Anyone Predicted<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Automotive Energy Supply <span style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">Corp., better known as AESC, began constructing a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/tag\/batteries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">battery plant<\/a>&nbsp;in South Carolina to supply BMW with cells for its electric vehicles<\/span>, including the upcoming production models based on the Neue Klasse Vision concepts, the iX3 SUV and i3 sedan..Work on the physical buildings at the site is almost complete, but efforts to install equipment and establish assembly lines have been halted.<\/p>\n<div id=\"taboola-mid-article\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"taboola-mid-article-thumbnails-organic\"><\/div>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/P90573640_highRes_bmw-at-the-mondial-d.jpg\" data-type=\"inarticle-image-block\"> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<p>                    <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazy \" src=\"\" alt=\" Massive US Battery Plant Grinds To A Halt After Trump&rsquo;s Tariffs\" width=\"2549\" height=\"1700\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/P90573640_highRes_bmw-at-the-mondial-d-1024x683.jpg\" data-type=\"inarticle-image\" \/><figcaption>BMW&rsquo;s Neue Klasse Vision concepts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>        <\/a>  <\/p>\n<p>In a memo addressed to employees that was seen by The Wall Street Journal, AESC&rsquo;s chief executive for the US and Europe, Knudt Flor, said work was being paused because of &ldquo;economic uncertainty arising from current federal policy and tax issues.&rdquo; However, he added that &ldquo;Our intent is to finish construction of the facility once stability and predictability have returned to the market.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/autos\/a-chinese-owned-battery-plant-in-south-carolina-halts-construction-77e9441e\">WSJ<\/a>, AESC would face a substantial tariff bill if it were to import the necessary machinery from China. Additionally, separate tariffs on steel and aluminum could hurt the battery giant.<\/p>\n<p>AESC announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/2025\/05\/ford-michigan-ev-plant-risk-tax-credit-cuts\/\">its South Carolina plant<\/a> while Joe Biden was still President and the administration was providing huge subsidies to attract battery manufacturers to the United States. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration helped attract more than $130 billion in investments across the automotive sector, with many focusing on batteries for electric vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Now, many subsidies are in the firing line of Republicans. A new bill proposes ending <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/tag\/electric-vehicles\/\">EV battery production<\/a> subsidies a year early and making them unavailable to companies with ties to certain countries, like China. Although AESC is headquartered in Japan, it is majority-owned by the Envision Group in China.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/2022\/02\/chinas-envision-aesc-to-make-batteries-with-1000-km-of-range-in-2024\/\">AESC<\/a> has invested over $1 billion into the Florence facility, and we anticipate being able to resume construction once circumstances stabilize,&rdquo; the company told the news outlet in a statement. &ldquo;AESC fully intends to meet our commitments to invest $1.6 billion and create 1,600 jobs in the coming years.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-placement\">\n<div id=\"9b1169d9-7a89-4971-a77f-1397f7588751\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"> <\/div>\n<div id=\"bb7964e9-07de-4b06-a83e-ead35079d53c\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"> <\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\tvar adpushup = window.adpushup  = window.adpushup || {que:[]};<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tadpushup.que.push(function() {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tif (adpushup.config.platform !== &#8220;DESKTOP&#8221;){<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;bb7964e9-07de-4b06-a83e-ead35079d53c&#8221;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t} else {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;9b1169d9-7a89-4971-a77f-1397f7588751&#8221;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AESC-Battery-2.jpg\" data-type=\"inarticle-image-block\"> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<p>                    <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazy \" src=\"\" alt=\" Massive US Battery Plant Grinds To A Halt After Trump&rsquo;s Tariffs\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AESC-Battery-2-1024x576.jpg\" data-type=\"inarticle-image\" \/><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>        <\/a>  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AESC halted construction at its nearly finished battery plant in South Carolina. The company blames economic uncertainty and tariff risks &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/10\/massive-us-battery-plant-grinds-to-a-halt-after-trumps-tariffs\/\" class=\"more-link\"><span class=\"more-button\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Massive US Battery Plant Grinds To A Halt After Trump\u2019s Tariffs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2268"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2268"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2271,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2268\/revisions\/2271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}