The US Commerce Department has stated it will impose preliminary anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese graphite, a key battery component, after concluding that the materials had been unfairly subsidised, according to a Bloomberg report.
A trade association representing US graphite producers had last year filed petitions with two federal agencies, asking for investigations into whether Chinese companies were violating anti-dumping laws. The new duties will add to existing rates, making the effective tariff 160%, according to the American Active Anode Material Producers, the trade group that filed the complaint.
The Commerce Department issued the preliminary determination on the 93.5% anti-dumping duties and said a final decision should be announced by December.
The levy on graphite will add to existing strain along the global electric-vehicle supply chain that’s already grappling with Beijing’s controls on exports of some critical minerals and battery technology.
Tesla Inc. and its key battery supplier, Japan’s Panasonic Inc., were among companies pushing to block the new tariffs, arguing that they rely on Chinese graphite imports because the domestic industry hasn’t developed enough to meet the quality standards and volume that the carmaker requires.
Graphite is a key raw material used to make anodes of the batteries, and nearly 180,000 tonnes of graphite products were imported into the US last year, with about two-thirds of these deliveries coming from China, according to BloombergNEF.
China dominates the processing capacity of graphite, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) calling the material one of the most exposed to potential supply risks and “requiring urgent efforts for diversification,” according to a report in May.
Graphite is expected to remain the most common anode material for all types of lithium-ion batteries in the medium term, according to the IEA, with silicon only expected to begin eating into its market share from 2030.