Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warned Friday that President-elect Trump’s reported plans to cut consumer subsidies for electric vehicles would benefit China.
“You eliminate these credits, and what do you do? You end up ceding the territory to other countries, particularly China,” Granholm told reporters at the COP29 global climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“If we want to stand by and watch offshoring again and cede this territory, then we don’t have an industrial strategy,” she added. “But if we want to compete, which we’re doing and we’re doing successfully, then we keep these incentives in place.”
On the campaign trail, Trump did not say whether he would want to cut the tax credit of up to $7,500 for consumers who buy the climate-friendly automobiles.
But Reuters reported this week, citing sources with direct knowledge, that his team hopes to get rid of the credit.
Repealing tax credits requires an act of Congress. It’s not entirely clear which pieces of Biden’s climate law, which expanded the EV credit, GOP lawmakers plan to eliminate.
But some Republicans have expressed interest in getting rid of or restricting this particular incentive, even if they don’t want to repeal the entire Inflation Reduction Act.
