Industrial Policy Roundtable on Battery Value Chains

About the Event

Industrial policy is shaping the global transition to clean energy, with EVs and batteries sitting at the intersection of trade, climate, and development. Governments are using industrial policy tools like subsidies, export restrictions, investment facilitation, and local content rules to build domestic capacity across the EV battery value chain.

While these policies can support industrialization and decarbonization, they also have cross-border effects on trade, investment, technology flows, and access to value chains, particularly for developing countries.

This high-level roundtable brought together World Trade Organization delegates and experts to explore these issues, drawing on three case studies from Indonesia, Morocco, and China. The discussion aimed to deepen understanding of emerging policy trends, their global implications, and opportunities for international cooperation.

Key questions included:

• Which policy tools are countries using, and why?
• How do these policies affect trade, investment, and access to technology?
• What challenges do developing countries face in moving up the value chain?
• What can we learn from country experiences to improve policy design?
• Where could international cooperation reduce tensions and maximize positive spillovers?

Speakers

• Alice Tipping, director, Trade and Sustainable Development, IISD – Opening and closing remarks
• Poppy Winanti, professor, Universitas Gadjah Mada – Case study, Indonesia
• Poorva Karkare, senior policy analyst, the European Centre for Development Policy Management – Case study, Morocco
• William Davis, economic advisor with the Secretariat to the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development – Case study, China
• Aaron Cosbey, senior associate, IISD – Key takeaways

Insights from this dialogue will inform an upcoming policy brief on industrial policy and the EV battery value chain.