US waives tariffs on Japanese aluminum for Tesla battery cells

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

The U.S. Commerce Department has agreed to Tesla Inc’s request to waive 10 percent tariffs on imported aluminum from Japan used in the manufacture of battery cells at Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory, government documents show.

The Palo Alto, California-based company made the request in April and said the aluminum is produced by Nippon Light Metal Co Ltd and was seeking a tariff exclusion for 10 million kilograms annually.

The Commerce Department said in a document dated June 5 and posted in recent days that the aluminum “is not produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or of a satisfactory quality.” The waiver is good for one year. Tesla did not immediately comment.

(By David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *