SK says it could give up US factory due to ITC ruling 

SK Innovation has sent a petition to the International Trade Commission (ITC) asking for a grace period on the 10-year import ban it received from the commission, people familiar with the matter said.

The move is considered a way for SK to buy time to prepare for the legal battle ahead with LG Energy Solution at the appeals court in Delaware.

SK has called ITC’s ruling against it “disastrous” in the petition, the people said. The ruling will not only cause long-term harm to the company, but also to the public interest in the US, SK has claimed in the petition, they said.

There has been suspensions on the ban for Volkswagen’s MEB platform and Ford’s F-150 electric trucks, but this won’t allow for meaningful recovery for SK’s spending on equipment [in the US], the company claimed. It will have to end the construction of its factory in Georgia, SK added.

SK Innovation CEO Kim Jun and board chair Kim Jong-hoon are in the US to block ITC’s ruling coming into affect. The company has recently hired former attorney general Sally Yates as an advisor in its case against the ITC.