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 field uncertainty While Automotive Force Supply Corp didn t specify what those problems are South Carolina s Republican governor explained the company is dealing with the probable 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 revealed AESC disclosed the suspension in construction of its plant in Florence on Thursday Due to program and region uncertainty we are pausing construction at our South Carolina facility at this time the company s message announced 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 reported 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 message 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 mentioned 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 communicated a second factory on the Florence site but then noted earlier this year that their first plant should be able to handle BMW s demand That prompted South Carolina executives 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 noted a construction pause won t prompt them to claw back that offer Related Articles Wall Street gains ground following a solid jobs overview Midea recalling million of its popular air conditioners due to mold concern Employers add a solid jobs in May though hiring slows as certain probable weaknesses appear Goodbye Mr Nice Guy Investors dump Tesla on bet Trump may lash out at Musk through his car company Details 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 significant partnerships McMaster described 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 expansion and prosperity and there is no doubt there has to be changes made in our international exchange posture and President Trump is addressing that McMaster reported reporters Thursday
