Import tax on lithium cell likely
NEW DELHI : India plans to impose tariffs on imports of lithium-ion cells for as long as a decade and offer incentives to boost local manufacturing as part of a broader effort to scale down trade ties with China, two people aware of the developments said.
Tensions along the India-China border have prompted India to use its fast-growing market as a lever to pressure Beijing to back off. India’s plans involve imposing tariff and non-tariff barriers to check Chinese imports. The idea is to avoid repeating what happened with solar equipment manufacturing, where China leveraged its first-mover advantage to capture the market.
Lithium cells are the building blocks of rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), laptops and mobile phones. Lithium-based batteries also cater to the consumer electronics industry and power grids, given the intermittent nature of electricity from clean energy sources such as solar and wind.
