[Good morning economy] What if there's no subsidy...K-Battery industry 'concerns again'

■ Host: Anchor Lee Hyun-woong, Anchor Cho Ye-jin
■ Starring: Kim Jae-cheon, Graduate School of International Studies at Sogang University, Professor Lee Jung-hwan, Department of Economics and Finance at Hanyang University

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News Special] when quoting.

◆ Anchor: (President Trump) said that he would even withdraw the mandatory electric vehicle, and he also talked about subsidies earlier.If that happens, can't our automobile industry and battery industry avoid adverse effects?

◇ Lee Jung-hwan: It is true that the secondary battery industry and the battery industry in Korea are in a little difficult situation. In the case of LG Energy Solution, in fact, the first, second, and third quarters of last year were in the red without US subsidies. The fourth quarter was a deficit even with subsidies. There are a number of issues, but China is growing too fast, and CATL's technology is growing at a faster pace than expected, and the technology of secondary batteries in Korea, China and Korea, are different, but the methods are different. There are also aspects that are threatened by these fast-growing trends in China. In particular, if subsidies are cut off, I think I can tell you that these situations will inevitably lead to a decrease in profits for factories and sales established in the United States. The same goes for cars, but Hyundai-Kia Motors keeps saying that it will change its lineup to eco-friendly cars. In the end, the future generation will focus on eco-friendly cars and strengthen the production process centered on electric vehicles, but if the U.S. eventually reverses this direction, it will be pushed back.

However, what's being said is that GM and other companies are also investing a lot in eco-friendly transformation, and especially when trying to sell cars to the EU, cars in the EU are still emphasized on the green deal, so we have no choice but to do eco-friendly transformation. In the end, we can change the production process a little bit by doing a little more about fossil fuel energy, but if the global market itself is going eco-friendly, automakers also have to follow this. For this reason, I think there are many decisions about whether to change the production process itself or change the speed. In summary, first of all, it's negative. In short, industries such as secondary batteries are now in a situation where they are in deficit without subsidies from the U.S., and Hyundai-Kia Motors has changed its car lineup to eco-friendly cars, so if demand for eco-friendly cars decreases, it will inevitably suffer. But this global trend. The U.S. is focusing on its own independence and Europe's direction, and China is also moving toward eco-friendly cars. I think I can tell you that there seem to be parts that companies can autonomously decide on because of this overall flow and conflict.

Excerpt from the conversation: Jung Eui-jin, editor of the digital news team

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