EU batteries chief on guard over battery subsidies from China, US

European Commission VP and batteries czar Maroš

Sefcovic has said the bloc is monitoring “massive” Chinese and US battery industry subsidies — but signalled a conciliatory approach to protecting European manufacturers.

Sefcovic said while attending the opening of BASF’s joint center for battery material production and battery recycling in Germany on June 29: “We are looking carefully at China’s massive subsidies to its industry, in particular clean-tech innovation and manufacturing, and ways to protect our own.”

The EU is also in contact with its “US friends” regarding the Inflation Reduction Act, which he said could lead to unfair competition, close markets, and fragment critical supply chains.

Such incentives in several countries are affecting the EU’s capacity to succeed in the green and digital transition.

Sefcovic said the EU still needed to work and trade with China but should “focus on de-risking rather than decoupling”.

However, where trade is not fair, he said Europe must respond more robustly.

According to BASF, its new plant in Schwarzheide is Germany’s first production site for high-performance cathode materials and also the first fully automatic