The Morrow bankruptcy is a result of free trade with China

Morrow Batteries bankruptcy is a serious warning

The bankruptcy of Morrow Batteries in Arendal is not merely the story of a company that ran out of money. It is the story of how Norwegian ambitions for a green industrial adventure were crushed in the geopolitical grinder between the United States, the European Union and China.

Despite the Norwegian state injecting NOK 1.5 billion in support, the project was in reality doomed from the outset. The reason is simple, but brutal: Morrow was forced to operate in the same market as China, a player with unattainable low-cost advantages and control over the entire value chain.

The United States is establishing a Western trade market

This is precisely what the escalating trade war between the United States and the European Union is about. The US, with Donald Trump at the forefront, has seen a future in which Western industry withers under Chinese influence. The strategy from Washington is crystal clear: to establish a Western market in which trade barriers are erected to protect against Chinese competition.

At the center of this conflict is the battle over critical minerals, which are among the key raw materials in battery production at Morrow.

While control over oil resources has been the backbone of geopolitical power until now, we are witnessing a fundamental shift: through the green transition, rare earth elements and critical minerals will take over as the primary energy source and the very foundation of industrial and military power. As long as this transition continues, control over both oil and mineral resources will shape the geopolitical power struggle.

New technology and the battle for minerals

For a technology factory such as Morrow to succeed, it must have access to raw materials in a market that is not undermined by subsidized prices from China. The West needs to develop artificial intelligence, green energy and advanced weapons technology in order to keep pace with China technologically. This cannot be achieved without critical minerals.

For unknown reasons, the EU has been reluctant to sign an agreement on a Western supply chain for critical minerals, something the United States demands. Despite numerous trade meetings in recent weeks and a certain degree of progress, no solution has been reached. One example is that the United States does not accept imports of European-produced cars with battery packs containing minerals from China.

The United States has prepared to introduce higher tariffs and sanctions the summer of 2026 if the EU does not yield. This is intended to secure control over the 60 minerals that the United States has defined as critical to national security. Norway, which possesses enormous mineral deposits, stands at the center of this conflict and will be directly affected if the EU does not enter into the minerals agreement.

Relations between the United States and the EU are expected to become highly strained this summer. Read more about this situation here.