Seoul has asked Washington to clarify which Chinese companies South Korea will be dissuaded from importing key electric vehicle(EV) battery minerals from under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act(IRA).

According to the U.S. government gazette on Sunday, the South Korean government submitted its official opinions regarding the guidelines announced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury back in March concerning battery-sourcing requirements affecting eligibility for credits worth up to seven-thousand-500 U.S. dollars under the IRA.

In the opinion letter, the government said it is important to consider complexity and global interdependence within supply chains for EV batteries, calling on the U.S. government to take into account such matters when creating “Foreign Entity of Concern(FEOC)”-related rules.

Under the legislation, companies buying critical minerals used in EV batteries from such a firm will be ineligible for subsidies from 2025.

The Treasury said in March that it will define which companies constitute an FEOC, but has not done so yet.