Reality Check for U.S. and EU Policymakers Planning to Decouple From China’s EV Battery Supply Chain

Source: BloombergNEF

One of the main priorities of last year’s landmark environmental legislation in the U.S. (known as the Inflation Reduction Act) is to reduce, even eliminate China’s role in the electric vehicle supply chain, particularly when it comes to batteries.

But that legislation and the drive to decouple the U.S. EV supply chain from Chinese suppliers run up against Chinese firms’ continued dominance in the mining and processing of the critical resources needed to power EVs.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More
by Eric Olander

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
3
Chinese Cargo Planes Secretly Ferrying Supplies to Iran, Claim Online Sleuths
4
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
5
Indonesia Begins $5.9 Billion Chinese EV Battery Project Despite Environment Fears
6 Trump’s Contradictory Iran Strategy Leaves U.S. Weaker After War’s End, Says Chinese Commentator

You Might Like

U.S. Plans to Bypass China’s Cobalt Dominance with Arizona Plant

The Singapore-based commodities trader Trafigura announced it will partner with the U.S. battery metals processing firm EVelution to build a battery-grade cobalt sulfate processing facility in Arizona.  The facility is projected to produce 7,000 tons of ...

Huge Lithium Deposit in Found in Iran

The Iranian authorities say they found the world’s second-largest deposit of lithium in the mountainous province of Hamedan. At an estimated 8.5 million tons, the Hamedan lithium haul would be second only to ...

Backgrounder: How China is Consolidating Oil and Gas Supplies in the Middle East

Amid rising geopolitical tensions with the United States, China is moving to tighten its control over key routes that supply it with oil and liquid natural gas. Anxiety about the United States and its ...

U.S. Acknowledges It Can’t Cut China Out of the EV Battery Supply Chain

For much of the past year, since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022, U.S. officials have spoken at length about the urgent need to remove China from the critical ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

More about CGSP