According to Bloomberg News on the 30th (local time), President Joe Biden is planning on invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) for EV batteries to ramp up the production of essential minerals.
President Biden plans to use the DPA as early as the 31st to support U.S. companies with $750 million (KRW 909 billion won)that produce lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt and manganese.
These minerals are key raw materials needed for EV positive and negative electrode materials. The prices the minerals skyrocketed due to increase in electric vehicle demand, supply chain disruption, and the Ukraine war.
President Biden is working towards increasing EV instead of conventional fuel vehicles In response to climate change. He is also trying to break away from dependence on China for rare minerals, and to expand procurement in the U.S.
The Biden administration has already allocated $6 billion to enhance the electric vehicle supply chain and reduce dependence in Chinese auto industry, which is a leader in lithium-ion batteries.
The White House revealed in the July report last year that theminerals that the U.S. depends on , excluding fuel, rose from 21 in 1954 to 58, which accounted for one fourth of the imported minerals.
The DPA is a law that allows the President to first procure goods deemed necessary for national security, regardless ofa loss that occurred to the producer.
This was enacted right after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 to encourage the U.S. to produce steel needed for the Korean War.
By Staff Reporter Taejoon Park (gaius@etnews.com)