Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol agreed to deepen cooperation in the field of essential minerals used for electric vehicles.
“Yoon and I discussed ways to collaborate in a variety of areas, including essential minerals, batteries for electric vehicles, and emerging technologies, including AI (artificial intelligence),” says Trudeau.
Canada has long been known to have many minerals important for the production of electric vehicle batteries such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. The Canadian government itself is in the process of helping producers increase production.
“Canada, as a global leader in the production of minerals, and Korea, a major semiconductor and battery maker – each play crucial roles in global supply chains,” said Yoon
Korea’s neighbor China is the dominant global supplier of essential minerals used to make electric vehicle batteries. Yoon said it was strategically important for both countries to find alternative suppliers.
Hyundai and Kia, Korean automotive manufacturers are one of the important players in the world’s electric vehicle industry with the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6.
In March, Stellantis said it would build a vehicle battery plant in a joint venture with LG Energy Solution in Windsor, across the border from Detroit.
In a joint statement, South Korea and Canada said they agreed to deepen their “strategic partnership in supply chain resilience” and would seek to position themselves as “competitive players in the supply chain of essential minerals and battery and EV value chains”.
To that end, the two countries agreed to develop a memorandum of understanding in the coming months to “support the clean energy transition and energy security, including those related to essential minerals”.
