Japan: Toyota attacked by its steel supplier

Toyota's historic steel supplier, Steel Corp, is asking it to shut down production lines for its electric cars.

AFP - FRANCOIS LO PRESTI

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Will Toyota continue to manufacture its electric cars?

A Japanese steel supplier, Steel Corp, files a complaint against the automaker and demands the shutdown of production lines.

Toyota is accused of buying counterfeit Chinese steel.

Copied from the technology of the Japanese supplier.

An unusual scene in a traditionally tight-knit Japanese industrial universe. 

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Right, the complainant: Steel Corp, a Japanese steel giant.

He files a complaint against his Chinese counterpart, on the left: Baosteel, whom he accuses of copying his steel technology.

A patented technology that is used to manufacture electric car motors. 

And who makes electric cars?

And who is supplied by the two steelmakers?

Toyota, which finds itself in the middle and is also the subject of a complaint by Steel Corp.

Its historic supplier is asking the two companies for $ 176 billion.

And the shutdown of production lines for electric Toyotas. 

Annoyance of Japanese steelworkers

The Japanese manufacturer learns with "a 

 " this summons.

He claims to have had the promise of his Chinese supplier that no patent has been violated and handily holds up a writing that testifies to this. 

The scene is unusual in Japan, but it illustrates the annoyance of steelmakers in the Japanese archipelago, where the price of steel is pushed down, while the cost of raw materials soars.

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