The Japanese company pauses the battery of the South Carolina Construction of the factory

Columbia, SC (AP) – A Japanese company has interrupted the construction of a $ 1.6 billion factory In South Carolina to help make batteries for electric BMWs, citing “market and uncertainty of the market”.

Although Automotive Energy Supply Corp. did not specify what these problems are, the republican governor of South Carolina said that the company was dealing with the potential loss of Federal tax alternatives For buyers of electric vehicles and EV companies incentives as well as the pricing uncertainties of the administration of President Donald Trump.

“What we are doing is to exhale prudence – let things play because all of these changes take place,” said Governor Henry McMaster.

AESC announced Thursday the suspension in the construction of its factory in Florence,

“Due to the uncertainty of policies and the market, we stop the construction of our Southern Carolina facilities at present,” said the company’s statement.

AESC has promised to restart the construction, although he did not say when, and promised to respect his commitment to hire 1,600 workers and to invest $ 1.6 billion. The company said it had already invested $ 1 billion in the Florence factory.

The manufacturer of batteries based in Japan also has facilities in China, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Germany. In the United States, AESC has a factory in Tennessee and builds a Kentucky. The declaration not mentioned any change with the other plants.

The South Carolina factory is supposed to sell battery cells in BMWwhich builds its own battery assembly site near its giant car factory in Greer. BMW said the construction break by AESC does not change its plans to open its factory in 2026.

AESC has already retraced its South Carolina plans. They announced a second factory on the Florence site, but then declared earlier this year that their first factory should be able to meet BMW’s demand. This prompted South Carolina officials to withdraw $ 111 million in aid they had planned to provide.

The company still obtains $ 135 million in subsidies from the South Carolina Ministry of Trade and $ 121 million in bonds and the agency said that a construction break would not encourage them to recover this offer.

South Carolina invests massively in electric vehicles. Belonging to Volkswagen Scout engines plans to invest $ 2 billion and hire 4,000 people for a factory to build its new electric SUVs that should open in 2027.

The state has been doing big bets for foreign manufacturers like BMW, Michelin and Samsung who paid with an economic boom this century for decades, but there is a discomfort that Trump that Trump is flirt with high prices could stagger or even ruin these important partnerships.

McMaster told people to relax while heads of state and business speak to Trump’s administration and things will work.

“I think that the objective of the president and the administration is to have solid economic and prosperity and prosperity and there is no doubt that there must be changes to our posture of international trade and President Trump addresses this,” McMaster told journalists on Thursday.