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Trump to Roll Back Biden’s EV and Emissions PoliciesReuters reports
Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump’s transition team is recommending sweeping changes to cut off support for electric vehicles and charging stations and to strengthen measures blocking cars, components and battery materials from China, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The recommendations, which have not been previously reported, come as the U.S. electric-vehicle transition stalls and China’s heavily subsidized EV industry continues to surge, in part because of its superior battery supply chain.
The transition team also recommends imposing tariffs on all battery materials globally, a bid to boost U.S. production, and then negotiating individual exemptions with allies, the document shows.
Taken together, the recommendations are a stark departure from Biden administration policy, which sought to balance encouraging a domestic battery supply chain, separate from China, with a rapid EV transition. The transition-team plan would redirect money now flowing to building charging stations and making EVs affordable into national-defense priorities, including securing China-free supplies of batteries and the critical minerals to build them.
The proposals came from a Trump transition team charged with crafting a strategy for swift implementation of new automotive policies. The team also calls for eliminating the Biden administration’s $7,500 tax credit for consumer EV purchases, a plan that Reuters first reported last month. The policies could strike a blow to U.S. EV sales and production at a time when many legacy automakers, including General Motors (GM), opens new tab and Hyundai have recently introduced a wider array of electric offerings to the U.S. market.
The transition team calls for clawing back whatever funds remain from Biden’s $7.5 billion plan to build charging stations and shifting the money to battery-minerals processing and the “national defense supply chain and critical infrastructure.”
While batteries, minerals and other EV components are “critical to defense production,” electric vehicles “and charging stations are not,” the document says.
The transition team recommendations would allow automakers to produce more gas-powered vehicles by rolling back emissions and fuel-economy standards championed by the Biden administration. The transition team proposes shifting those regulations back to 2019 levels, which would allow an average of about 25% more emissions per vehicle mile than the current 2025 limits and average fuel economy to be about 15% lower.
The proposal also recommends blocking California from setting its own, stricter vehicle-emissions standards, which more than a dozen other states have adopted. Trump barred California from setting tougher requirements during his first term, a policy that Biden reversed.
Hello CaliforniaLetting California dictate policy for the nation is crazy. Expect a battle over this one and expect Trump to win.California Governor Gavin Newsom said that if Trump cut the EV subsidy he would replace it.OK go ahead. But it will be on the backs of California’s taxpayers already saddled with mountains of Newsom’s nonsense.
Rollback Standards to WhenI don’t understand the case for rolling back goals we have already achieved, but perhaps I am missing something. Is 2019 a policy trial balloon?Freezing the 2023 standards is another possibility.Mileage will improve automatically if and when EVs gain enough market share. I suspect they will be when battery technology improves, and some improvements are in the works.What I certainly want to kill are Biden’s EPA’s goals from 2026 on. Those pending rules would force people into EVs before the infrastructure is ready.
National Defense Supply ChainChanneling money to critical materials development makes sense.However, “whatever funds remain from Biden’s $7.5 billion plan to build charging stations” sounds almost useless vs the task at hand.But at least we are discussing the right things.
Killing the $7,500 EV SubsidyMost of the above except the EV subsidy can be done by executive order.Killing the EV subsidy, however, is part of the ridiculously named Inflation Reeducation Act.And the auto industry will fight to keep those subsidies.
Hopeful But Skeptical of DOGECompare the Reuters headline to mine. Reuters made it seem like a done deal. My headline says “proposes”.Team DOGE has no authority to do anything but make recommendations.For all the hype, DOGE has not come up with anything that I would not have proposed.For example, DOGE wants to eliminate the Department of Education. Great, but this is an idea that been circulation for at least a decade by Ron Paul and others.The idea will die if four Republican Senators disagree or perhaps if as few as a couple of House members disagree.
To Do and UndoIt’s much easier passing something than undoing it. Let’s see if we can even do something seemingly simple like killing EV subsidies.So, color me skeptical until DOGE comes up with ideas we have not already heard about for the last 10 years, and then Congress actually votes on them, and Trump signs them into law.Otherwise, it’s all hype.
A Tiny Republican Majority in the House Will Make Legislation DifficultOn November 30, I noted
Here’s the deal. If there are many as two defections, Republicans will not be able to pass much of anything if Trump tries to deliver his campaign promises like no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, and no tax on overtime.
How many balanced budget hypocrites do you expect to see when Trump proposes big budget deficit increases?
An Interactive Exercise: What Would You Do to Balance the Budget?On December 4, I offered I balanced the budget. Team DOGE hasn’t. But my proposals have the same philosophical issue.It’s easier to do something than undoing it. Cutting the budget is mostly a case of raising revenues or undoing something that’s already done.Good luck with that.More By This Author:The German Government Collapses, Early Elections Are Coming Up How 10-Year Treasury Yields Have Changed This Interest Rate Cut CycleChina’s 10-Year Bond Yield Hits New Record Low On Disappointing Data
