Conflict Minerals: Tesla Motors Outlines Difficulties In Tracking Conflict Minerals In Its Supply Chain

Jun 3, 2014 | Angelo Young, International Business Times
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Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) said this week in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it’s having difficulty determining the source for some of the raw materials used in building its all-electric cars due to the complexity and scope of the global supply chain. The statement highlights a downside to well-meaning legislation designed to assure that American firms make efforts to avoid commodities whose sale funds African warlords.Companies like Tesla and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NASDAQ:HPQ) are required to disclose their efforts to identify sourcing of so-called conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighbors under a section of the Dodd-Frank legislation passed several years ago. The particular section of the law was designed to increase supply chain transparency and give shareholders and consumers information to encourage companies to procure materials more ethically.