Large EV battery plant stops construction, citing concerns over U.S. policy uncertainty

A Japanese company has halted construction on a $1.6 billion electric vehicle battery factory in South Carolina. 

Gov. Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s Republican governor, said on Friday that the company is grappling with the GOP-led Congress potentially eliminating federal tax incentives for purchasing electric vehicles as well as the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. 

“Due to policy and market uncertainty, we are pausing construction at our South Carolina facility at this time,” the Automotive Energy Supply Corp. said in a statement.