Billion-dollar battery plant pauses construction amid electric vehicle and tariff uncertainty
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Japanese company has halted construction on a $1.6 billion factory in South Carolina to help make batteries for electric BMWs, citing 'policy and market uncertainty.'
While AESC didn't specify what those problems are, South Carolina's Republican governor said the company is dealing with the potential loss of federal tax breaks for electric vehicle 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 said.
AESC announced the suspension in construction of its plant in Florence on Thursday,
'Due to policy and market uncertainty, we are pausing construction at our South Carolina facility at this time," the company's statement said.
AESC promised to restart construction, although it didn't say when, and vowed to meet its commitment to hire 1,600 workers and invest $1.6 billion. The company said it has already invested $1 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 statement 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 said the construction pause by AESC doesn't change its plans to open its plant in 2026.
AESC has already rolled back its South Carolina plans. They announced a second factory on the Florence site, but then said earlier this year that their first plant should be able to handle BMW's demand. That prompted South Carolina officials to withdraw $111 million in help they planned to provide.
The company is still getting $135 million in grants from the South Carolina Department of Commerce and $121 million in bonds and the agency said a construction pause won't prompt them to claw back that offer.
South Carolina is investing heavily in electric vehicles. Volkswagen-owned Scout Motors plans to invest more than $4 billion and hire 10,000 people for a plant to build its new electric SUVs scheduled to open in 2027.
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 important partnerships.
McMaster told 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 growth and prosperity and there is no doubt there has to be changes made in our international trade posture and President Trump is addressing that,' McMaster told reporters Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says he thinks the government has a 'very easy case' against Kilmar Abrego Garcia
President Donald Trump on Saturday said that it wasn't his decision to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, back to the U.S. to face federal charges, saying the 'Department of Justice decided to do it that way, and that's fine.' 'That wasn't my decision,' Trump said of Abrego Garcia's return in a phone call with NBC News on Saturday. 'It should be a very easy case' for federal prosecutors, the president added. Trump added that he did not speak with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele about Abrego Garcia's return, even though the two men spoke about Abrego Garcia during an April meeting in the Oval Office. His remarks came after Abrego Garcia arrived back in the U.S. on Friday and was charged in an indictment alleging he transported people who were not legally in the country. The indictment came amid a protracted legal battle over whether to bring him back from El Salvador that escalated all the way up to the Supreme Court. Abrego Garcia's family and lawyers have called him a family man, while Trump and his administration have alleged that he is a member of the gang MS-13. The case drew national attention amid the Trump administration's broader push for mass deportations. After Abrego Garcia's deportation, lawyers for the Trump administration said he was deported in an 'administrative error,' as Abrego Garcia had previous legal protection from deportation to El Salvador. Still, the Trump administration did not attempt to bring Abrego Garcia back, even as the Supreme Court ruled that it had to 'facilitate' his return to the U.S. Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., had for weeks said that Abrego Garcia was denied due process when he was detained and deported, arguing that he should have been allowed to defend himself from deportation before he was sent to El Salvador. Trump on Saturday called Van Hollen, who went to visit Abrego Garcia in jail in El Salvador in April, a 'loser' for defending the man's right to due process. 'He's a loser. The guy's a loser. They're going to lose because of that same thing. That's not what people want to hear,' the president said about Van Hollen. 'He's trying to defend a man who's got a horrible record of abuse, abuse of women in particular. No, he's a total loser, this guy.' On Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged that Abrego Garcia 'was a smuggler of humans and children and women. He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found, smuggling people throughout our country.' In a statement Friday, Abrego Garcia's lawyer called Bondi's move 'an abuse of power, not justice.' This article was originally published on
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Deletes His Explosive Donald Trump Claim Tied to Jeffrey Epstein amid Their Public Feud
Elon Musk has deleted his X post claiming that President Donald Trump's name is mentioned in the Jeffrey Epstein files Musk's claim came after the two men clashed about a new budget bill backed by the president The tech billionaire's decision to take down the post may be a sign of de-escalation in their highly publicized feudElon Musk has taken down his explosive claim that President Donald Trump's name is in the Jeffrey Epstein files — a move which may be a step toward de-escalation in the public feud between the two men. In the since-deleted post, which Musk shared on X on Thursday, June 5, the tech billionaire claimed that Trump appears in the high-profile case files, writing that it was the 'real reason' the files had not been made public. "Have a nice day, DJT!" he added sarcastically. Trump responded to the claim on Friday, June 6, by reposting a statement on Truth Social that was originally written by Epstein's former lawyer, David Schoen, on X. In the statement, Schoen claimed that his client 'had no information to hurt President Trump.' "I was hired to lead Jeffrey Epstein's defense as his criminal lawyer 9 days before he died,' the statement began. 'He sought my advice for months before that. I can say authoritatively, unequivocally, and definitively that he had no information to hurt President Trump. I specifically asked him!" Trump's name has previously been publicly linked with Epstein. His name was mentioned in flight logs released earlier this year by Attorney General Pam Bondi a total of seven times. However, the appearance of Trump's name in the flight logs does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing, as many of the individuals named could have been on Epstein's plane for legitimate reasons. The president was friends with the disgraced financier and pedophile for many years, but the two had a falling out in the mid-2000s, Trump told reporters shortly before Epstein died by suicide in 2019. Musk's deleted claim came on the heels of a number of verbal jabs with the president following the release of a controversial new budget bill. "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk posted to X — which he owns — on Tuesday, June 3. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it." During an Oval Office press conference on Thursday, June 4, Trump responded to Musk's criticisms. "Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anyone sitting here," Trump told reporters. "He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we're going to have to cut the [electric vehicle] mandate, because that's billions and billions of dollars." Trump also predicted Musk's attacks would get personal after saying he was "very disappointed in Elon." The war of words also came just days after it was announced Musk would be leaving the Trump administration. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bill O'Reilly Bats for Trump to Pardon to 4-Year-Old Immigrant With Serious Illness: ‘Has to Be Exceptions'
Even Bill O'Reilly knows when enough is enough. The conservative commentator who has long supported strong border security went to bat this week for President Trump to issue humanitarian pardons to certain undocumented immigrants, using the example of a young child with a serious illness being treated at a Southern California hospital who was granted a pass by Homeland Security. 'I was happy to see this story,' the 'No Spin News' host said Friday. But first, some Biden-bashing: 'Thanks to President Biden, the FBI has spent more than a million manpower hours investigating problems stemming from the open border,' he said. 'Now, on Tuesday of this week alone, 2,200 illegal migrants were taken into custody,' he continued. 'That's a lot for one day. That's a 37% jump from the week prior. So, they're stepping up. ICE is stepping up its raids and … keeping them contained. They're not out on the street anymore. The White House is pleased. Trump wants this. That's why it's happening.' He also noted that since Trump has been president, there have been 67,000 undocumented migrants taken in and about 65,000 deported, but 'there are exceptions, or there should be, and there are.' 'Homeland Security, which controls ICE, has to make exceptions here,' he said. 'One of them is little Sophia Vargas, a four-year-old Mexican girl with a very serious illness. She's being treated in Southern California in a hospital there. Her mother, who took her across the border illegally in 2023, has been detained by ICE. But ICE is now giving the family a humanitarian waiver, which is the right thing to do. All right? We have to save this girl's life. 'Now, I would, if I were President Trump, pardon her. I'd say, 'You can stay on a humanitarian basis.' Nothing wrong with that. Sophia and her mom do not pose any danger to us, and it's a humanitarian thing.' Watch the monologue in the video above. The post Bill O'Reilly Bats for Trump to Pardon to 4-Year-Old Immigrant With Serious Illness: 'Has to Be Exceptions' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
