US, South Korea Sign MoU to Pave the Way for Onshoring EV Battery Production in the United States

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--QAD Inc., a leading provider of next-generation manufacturing and supply chain solutions in the cloud, announced today that the President of KIAT (Korean Institute for Advancement of Technology), Vice Chairman of KBIA (Korean Battery Industry Association) and President of KETI (Korean Electronics Technology Institute), and Executive Director of NAATBatt have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the onshoring of Korean battery manufacturers in the United States. The signing took place at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC in conjunction with US President Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Ye’s intergovernmental meeting. QAD is a member of the NAATBatt Association and QAD’s Head of EV and Mobility Andreas Bareid serves as a Co-Chairman of the NAATBatt Onshoring Committee and Board Member.

This MoU is a critical step in furthering efforts to bring battery manufacturing to the United States and was developed with support of the NAATBatt Association, a non-profit trade association that is composed of companies, associations and research institutions involved with commercializing advanced, electrochemical energy storage technology for emerging, high-tech applications.

“Korean companies today are world leading experts within manufacturing of lithium based batteries,” said James Greenberger, founder and executive director of NAATBatt. “If we want to build a vibrant North American supply chain for lithium based batteries as quickly as possible, we need to use the best available manufacturing technology to achieve this. Today, this technology is largely with Korean companies. Hence we should integrate these Korean experts and companies to be part of that supply chain and the North American business community.”

The NAATBatt Onshoring Committee, one of NAATBatt’s fastest growing committees, focuses on connecting foreign battery industry associations and supporting their members in establishing business relationships with NAATBatt members and providing access to NAATBatt’s valuable resources, thus ensuring integration and valuable sharing of knowledge. The committee is headed by co-chairmen Andreas Bareid and Fred Lee of KTON – a US advisory firm specializing in onshoring technology and ventures from Asia by connecting US companies with Asian companies.

“We are excited to build the bridge between the knowledgeable Korean battery companies and the US, for all parts of the battery supply chain,” said Bareid. “Working together, through joint ventures, partnerships and business relations between our members, is the only way we can achieve rapid speed to benefit. To further ensure the adoption of EV, it is critical for onshoring companies to establish production and produce the yield envisaged and required by the Inflation Reduction Act. QAD supports the incoming onshoring companies with rapid speed to establishment and scale to manage their supply chain.”

In advance of the MoU signing, QAD sponsored a dinner hosted by NAATBatt at the Conrad Washington DC Hotel. In attendance were both Korean and US Battery Association members, government officials and representatives from several key US OEMs, battery makers and suppliers including GM, Airgas, Amphenol, P3, Polaris and Clarios.

“NAATBatt plays a critical role in helping to ensure the US develops a leadership position in a critical industry that will drive our future energy independence and transportation industry,” said QAD Chief Product and Marketing Officer Carter Lloyds. “Beyond economic prosperity, ensuring a robust domestic supply chain for batteries increases resilience and supports national security. We are proud to partner with them on this initiative.”

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