Seoul, Dec 22 (IANS): South Korea held the largest share of the US import market for battery materials last year, a trade association said on Sunday, outranking rivals China and Japan.

The United States imported $9.7 billion worth of key battery materials -- anode and cathode materials and separators -- from South Korea in 2023, up 93.1 percent from $5.02 billion in 2020, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), which analysed UN trade data.

Last year, South Korea held a 33.7 per cent share of the U.S. battery material import market, followed by Japan at 26.4 per cent and China at 8.4 per cent. In comparison, South Korea held an 8.5 per cent share in 2020, far behind China's 28.9 per cent and Japan's 17.2 per cent, reports Yonhap news agency.

South Korea's rise in the U.S. battery materials import market comes amid changes to the global supply chain, sparked by growing trade disputes between the United States and China.

Major South Korean battery makers -- LG Energy Solution Ltd., SK On Co. and Samsung SDI Co. -- have recently built large-scale battery plants in the United States, leading to increased U.S. imports of battery materials from South Korea.

The sharp growth in the South Korean firms' U.S. market share, however, is sparking concerns as the incoming U.S. administration of Donald Trump is reportedly considering imposing tariffs on battery materials.

In an internal document, Trump's transition team recommended changes to restrict support for electric vehicles and impose tariffs on all battery materials globally, Reuters earlier reported.

South Korean companies have pushed to operate battery plants in the United States under the current Joe Biden administration's initiative to induce investment in electric vehicles in the country.