U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at an event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 5, 2021, and answers reporters’ questions after driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Xe in the White House driveway. leadership position.
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President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team plans to eliminate a $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicle purchases as part of broader tax reform legislation, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Ending the tax credit could have serious ramifications for America’s already stalled EV transition. However, representing Tesla The largest U.S. sellers of electric vehicles so far have told Trump’s transition committee they support ending subsidies, two sources said on condition of anonymity.
Elon Musk, one of Trump’s biggest supporters and the world’s richest man, said earlier this year that removing subsidies could slightly hurt Tesla’s sales but would destroy its U.S. electric-car rivals, which include conventional vehicles Manufacturer, e.g. General Motors.
Repealing the subsidy is a signature measure of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), spearheaded by billionaire oilman and Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm and North Dakota Gov. Doug The leadership’s energy policy transition group is meeting to discuss scrapping the subsidy.
President Joe Biden and General Motors CEO Mary Barra look at a Chevrolet Silverado electric vehicle during a visit to the 2022 North American International Auto Show at the Huntington Convention Center in Detroit, Michigan, September 14, 2022 .
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The group has held numerous meetings since Trump won the election on Nov. 5, including some at his club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has held several meetings since the election. Spent a considerable amount of time there as well.
Representatives for the Trump transition and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing nearly all major automakers except Tesla, also did not immediately respond. The coalition last month urged Congress to preserve the electric vehicle tax credit in an Oct. 15 letter, calling it “critical to solidifying the United States’ position as a global leader in future vehicle technology and manufacturing.”
Trump repeatedly promised to end Biden’s “electric vehicle mandate” during the campaign, but did not clarify specific targeted policies. Sources say the energy-focused transition team has determined that some of the clean energy policies in the Biden IRA will be difficult to undo as funds have already begun to be allocated to the plans, including to the Republican-dominated government where they are popular. States allocate funds.
Trump’s energy transition team views the consumer electric vehicle credit as a low-hanging fruit and believes eliminating it will gain broad consensus in the Republican-controlled Congress as part of a larger tax reform bill.
On November 13, 2024, Musk listened to US President-elect Trump’s speech at the House Republican Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
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Two sources said Trump needs to save money by eliminating credits to help pay for the extension of trillions of dollars in tax cuts that are set to expire early in his term. Congressional Republicans have made broader tax measures one of their first actions.
Members of the energy transition team expect a Republican Congress to deploy a legislative measure called reconciliation to avoid relying on Democratic votes. Biden used the same tactic to get the IRA bill passed.
Repealing the electric vehicle tax credit has strong support from Hamm, a longtime Trump supporter, as well as much of the broader oil and gas industry.
The president-elect pledged before the election to boost U.S. oil production even as it hit record highs and to roll back President Joe Biden’s costly clean energy plan, which included credits for wind turbines in addition to electric vehicle credits. energy and solar subsidies and the mass production of electric vehicles.
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