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CATL Postpones Announcement About North American Plant Due to Pelosi's Visit to Taiwan

CATL is the largest battery manufacturer in the world and a great producer of LFP cells. This is one of the reasons for it to want a factory in North America: apart from supplying these batteries to Tesla, Ford is also interested in this cheaper and more robust chemistry. It seems CATL was about to reveal where it will have this new plant, but Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan made the company postpone the announcement.
CATL Factory 8 photos
Photo: CATL
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According to Bloomberg, CATL will wait until September or October to talk about the new factory. It would be a way to avoid issues with the Chinese government. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims that Taiwan belongs to China and sees Pelosi’s visit as a provocation, such as establishing embassies on that island. That would be equivalent to recognizing it is an independent country, which the CCP does not accept.

Taiwan can be considered the last bit of resistance to Communist rule in China. When the CCP took control of the mainland, Chiang Kai-shek and the Republic of China government members took refuge on the island, which remained under martial law until 1987. The democratic days started only after that. For a long time, Taiwan claimed to be China’s legitimate government, which shows how complicated the situation is.

Bloomberg reports that CATL did not give up on the factory. It just decided not to be one more cause for controversy while the situation does not cool down. Having a plant in North America is crucial for CATL to remain the largest battery manufacturer in the world.

BYD is its main competitor, and it already has several plants across the globe, including in Canada and the U.S. Expanding an existing plant could be a way not to cause the CCP’s anger and an effective way to win the customers CATL wants to serve with its LFP cells.

In CATL’s case, it will invest $5 billion in its new plant. Although it is investigating sites in the U.S., establishing in Mexico will give it access to the American market and may ensure CATL an excuse to say it is not investing in “the enemy.” Bloomberg noted that Ciudad Juarez and Saltillo are among the favorite sites to get the new factory.

Nancy Pelosi has already left Taiwan. We’re yet to understand all the consequences of her visit. For the time being, it shows how sensitive it is for all countries to lower their dependence on resources from abroad – especially if you have any reason not to trust them.
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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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