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Billion-dollar battery plant pauses construction amid electric vehicle and tariff uncertainty


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.”

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 Automotive Energy Supply Corp. 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. 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.

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