Unofficial: GM to produce Chinese batteries at a Japanese facility in the USA

The anti-China barrier fees concerning all EV imports in the United States have messed up General Motors logistics, and reports are coming in that the company is about to give up trying to circumvent the restrictions.

Battery packs are the most important component in the supply chain of most EV makers. To circumvent the tariffs, General Motors allegedly plans to contract the U.S. branch of the Japanese TDK Corporation to localize the production of CATL-branded power cells and thus avoid paying the exorbitant fees. It may have to purchase the rights to the technology from CATL in order to do so legally.

GM has declined direct comment, instead emphasizing that traction batteries play the biggest role in EV cost reduction.