SK Group to Tout $22B in New US Investments at White House Session

WASHINGTON — Chey Tae-won, chairman and principal owner of South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, SK Group, is set to announce $22 billion in new investments in U.S. manufacturing during a virtual meeting with President Joe Biden later today.

The new investments build upon the $7 billion in new projects undertaken during Biden’s time in office, bringing SK Group’s total investment in the U.S. since the president took office to about $30 billion.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, in 2021, the last year for which there are complete records, there was $333.6 billion dollars in foreign investment — the highest on record since 2016 and a 73% increase from 2020. 

By industry, the largest new foreign direct investment was in manufacturing — accounting for $121 billion, the department said. 

The White House is pushing hard on the notion that due to Biden’s leadership, the United States is a top destination for business investment to our partners around the world. 

Other recent investment announcements include:

• Samsung is investing $17 billion to build a new semiconductor facility in Taylor, Texas.
• Panasonic Energy announced its plans to invest $4 billion and create 4,000 jobs in a lithium-ion battery factory in De Soto, Kansas.
• Stellantis and Samsung announced a $2.5 billion joint venture to manufacture batteries in Kokomo, Indiana.
• Intel’s $20 billion facility outside Columbus, Ohio; Texas Instruments investing up to $30 billion in Texas; Wolfspeed’s $1 billion expansion in North Carolina; and expansions by Global Foundries and SK Group.
• In April, the Department of Energy Loan Program Office issued its first conditional loan commitment through the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program in more than a decade — $107 million to Syrah Technologies to produce graphite for electric vehicle batteries.

Over the last year, construction of new manufacturing facilities has increased by 116% as the administration has sought to shorten supply chains and bring more manufacturing back to the United States.

Since he took office, the White House said, the nation has added 574,000 manufacturing jobs, including more manufacturing jobs created in 2021 than at any time in nearly 30 years.

In other economic news, the administration announced that it is selling another 20 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to further drive down gasoline prices at the pump.

Last month, Biden announced the Energy Department would sell more than 125 million barrels of oil from the reserve in an effort to tamp down on surging gas prices.

A new analysis from the Department of the Treasury estimates that these releases, along with coordinated releases from international partners, have reduced gasoline prices by up to about 40 cents per gallon compared to what they would have been absent these drawdowns.

Gasoline prices have fallen for six straight weeks, and are nearly 70 cents below where they were last month. According to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, more than 40,000 stations across the United States are selling gasoline for less than $3.99 per gallon.

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