USTR says type of settlement between LG, SK is what US needs

The US Trade Representative (USTR) on Wednesday welcomed the recent settlement of a dispute between two South Korean electric vehicle battery makers as the type of trade policy the United States needs to create jobs and support innovation.

Katherine Tai also said the settlement enhances US confidence in the two South Korean companies as suppliers.

"The settlement is the type of trade policy I believe we need: it supports a larger strategy for creating jobs and investing in innovation and manufacturing leadership by bolstering sustainable renewable energy supply chains, leveling the playing field, discouraging regulatory arbitrage," she said in a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies.

The two South Korean EV battery makers -- SK Innovation and LG Energy Solution -- closed their prolonged dispute on April 11, just hours before the start of a 10-year US import ban on some of SK products, which the USTR in February decided had violated LG's trade secrets.

"The settlement builds confidence in these companies' reliability and responsibility as suppliers to the US auto industry," Tai said in her opening remarks before the subcommittee. (Yonhap)