LGES exec ‘cautiously optimistic’ battery maker won’t face ICE raids again

Robert Lee, president of North America for South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution, came to an auto industry conference in Detroit this week to talk about the US EV market.

But first, he addressed the elephant in the room: the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on an under-construction EV battery plant in Georgia that’s jointly owned by LGES and Hyundai Motor Group. The operation led to the arrests of 475 workers, mostly South Korean nationals who the US government claims were in the country illegally or under expired or incorrect visas, and delayed the project by a few months.

The incident has strained relations between the US and South Korea at a time when South Korean companies like LGES are investing heavily in the domestic manufacturing revival the Trump administration claims it supports.

“We feel really bad for all of our workers, as well as our subcontractors who came here to do business and install equipment,” Lee said.

The “one positive thing that’s coming out of this,” he added, is the discussion it has spurred about implementing visa reforms that South Korean officials view as more workable for those coming to the US to help set up high-tech manufacturing operations.

“We’re very supportive of this and cautiously optimistic that this type of thing will not happen again,” Lee said.

Investment risk: The Trump administration has since made moves to contain the fallout from the raid, CNBC reported Tuesday, with President Trump posting on social media that skilled foreign workers are “welcome” in the US and a top US diplomat offering reassurances that South Korean workers will be able to return to the US without risking similar incidents.

Meanwhile, South Korean officials have said that they are reviewing the incident to assess whether their citizens were subject to human rights violations after ICE agents used chains and shackles and workers reported being detained in poor conditions, The Washington Post reported.

Experts have warned that the operation, the largest single-site enforcement action in the Department of Homeland Security’s history, could have a chilling effect on foreign investments in the US.

In his remarks Tuesday, Lee highlighted LGES’ investments in the US, which span seven projects across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.

“I think this demonstrates that for at least the battery side, we do believe in US manufacturing,” Lee said. “We’ve invested here and we’re really trying to support this resurgence of high-tech manufacturing here in this country.”

Up and down: Lee pointed to flat growth in the US EV market in the last year following years of massive growth, and said that while “things are not as good as we thought they were going to be five years ago,” he still expects EV sales to grow at a “modest” pace in the years to come.

Instead of being driven by federal policy, Lee said that EVs must win over consumers by being “faster, cheaper, and better” than their internal combustion engine counterparts.

At the same time, battery makers like LGES are working to help automakers bring down battery costs, which are major contributors to the cost of EVs overall. Lee cited efforts like LGES’ collaboration with General Motors to bring lithium-manganese-rich batteries to market.

“This is really the most critical activity for us right now, to help our OEM partners get to more competitive vehicles which will, I believe, unleash the market,” he said.