There is no technology company in the world that is actually abide by that rule.
This week, the White House praised President Joe Biden’s” Investing in America Agenda,” as major companies warn that his administration’s stringent environmental laws are compelled to reevaluate investments in the United States, which would otherwise aid in the strengthening of domestic supply chains.
The last rule governing a proposed restrictions on both commercial and industrial applications for methylene chloride, a substance already used by technology firms producing power separators for electric vehicles, will be released by Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency.
Following a revised risk perseverance from the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency in November 2022 that concluded that methylene chloride presents an unreasonable risk of injury to wellness, the anticipated assault is included in the Toxic Substances Control Act. The company made a proposed restrictions on all customer and “most business” uses of methylene chloride in April 2023, which many international companies involved in a crucial part of the battery manufacturing supply chain are insisting will impede their ability to enter the U.S. market. The companies claim that the regulations make them reconsider their planned investments in America because they are extremely burdensome and impossible to achieve.
” There’s no technology company in the world that you really fulfill that rules”, Paul Chang, public relations chairman for Japan- based W- SCOPE, told the Washington Free Beacon. We still need to consider how the new regulations will affect our company in terms of long-term approach and how that will affect our upcoming investments in the United States. However, for the time being, we’re looking into investing either in Mexico or Canada because we need to be 100 % North American operations by 2029. And those two nations are our only choice right now.
This year the White House kicked off its” Investing in America tour”, during which, for three weeks, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, their spouses, and senior White House staff will go to more than 20 states to promote what they say is the Biden government’s commitment to local investments and boosting the British economy’s resilience. In a memo announcing the tour, the White House said President Biden’s economic policy has, among other things,” strengthened supply chains here at home”.
However, several international businesses that are key players in the domestic battery supply chain of the United States, including battery separator manufacturers, wrote to the EPA to inform them that its proposed methylene chloride regulation is making them to reevaluate their planned investments in the United States. In a letter to the EPA, SK IE Technology, a South Korean-based business that plans to enter the North American market within the next few years, stated that they view the proposed prohibition as” a gating issue that threatens to preclude US investment.”
The production of separators, which are necessary for the EV and clean energy agenda, is a key component of the methylene chloride (MC) process. This Proposed Rule threatens that agenda and the ability to produce important components like separators, the company stated in its letter. The South Korean business also requested clarification on how the organization intends to categorize industrial versus commercial methylene chloride, suggesting it use an alternative categorization strategy to allow” safe, sustainable use of MC to produce high-quality EV battery separators in the United States.”
Polypore International, another international battery separator manufacturer, similarly requested the EPA amend the parameters of its proposed final rule. ” Without reliable access to lithium battery technology, the United States has no chance of meeting the Administration’s clean energy goals”, a letter to the agency from Polypore stated. In keeping with this in mind, we request that the EPA completely reconsider the proposed rule on methylene chloride and instead implement a solution that would allow the use of existing mechanisms properly modified based on appropriate and science-based exposure thresholds, so that methylene chloride can continue to be safely and responsibly in the United States of America.
The EPA insisted that it had maintained a close relationship with stakeholders throughout the rulemaking process. The agency told the Free Beacon that “EPA plans to finalize the risk management rule for methylene chloride in the coming weeks.” The final rule’s provisions cannot be exactly stated at this time by EPA, but public feedback will help to make any changes to the proposed rule.
Cheng said W- SCOPE is monitoring other factors to see if they will continue investing in the country in the wake of the proposed ban on methylene chloride in addition to the upcoming presidential election and China’s potential security breaches as a foreign entity of concern. According to Cheng,” We need more explicit instructions on whether US regulators are willing to completely shut off their components, suppliers from China, and are they willing to close any gaps,” ” That’s our second biggest concern at this point”.
