Sen. Marco Rubio has continued his crusade to block the Chinese Communist Party’s access to the U.S. tax credits associated with electric vehicles, addressing a waiver the Biden administration introduced in its ‘Buy America’ policy.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is continuing his crusade to block the Chinese Communist Party’s access to U.S. tax credits associated with electric vehicles (EV) by offering a
joint resolution that seeks to invalidate a recent Biden administration waiver of “
Buy America” requirements on EV chargers.
Mr. Rubio, the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, introduced legislation on July 26 that would block tax credits for EV batteries produced using Chinese technology, saying it would “significantly restrict the eligibility of IRA tax credits and prevent Chinese companies from benefiting.”
Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Kevin Kramer (R-N.D.) introduced the joint resolution with Mr. Rubio.
However, a
waiver issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that took effect in March relaxed the “Buy America” requirement, making it possible for companies to buy from China to build EV charger stations while enjoying the tax credits.
“Waiving the Buy America requirements on EV chargers won’t help American taxpayers or workers. It hurts American companies and empowers foreign adversaries, like China, to control our energy infrastructure,” Mr. Rubio said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.
“We should never use American dollars to subsidize Chinese-made products.”
Pushing EV adoption is integral to the Biden administration’s priority in addressing climate change. By 2030, the administration wants EVs to make up at least half of new car sales and a network of
500,000 EV chargers in the United States.
Currently, the United States has about 140,000 chargers—less than a third of the 500,000 goal—at 50,000 stations operating in the country,
according to the Department of Energy. Meanwhile, only
5.8 percent of new vehicles sold in the United States last year were EVs.
EV infrastructure in the United States currently stands at about 18 EVs per charger, according to (
pdf) the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based intergovernmental organization.
Meanwhile, the IEA reported over a million EV charging stations in China in 2021, with an EV-per-charger ratio of under 8 to 1.
More than
10 Chinese EV charger manufacturers are preparing to export their products as intensified competition has cut their domestic profit margins, according to a director at the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance (EVCIPA), which was established by China’s National Energy Administration in 2015. The director also touted Chinese “quality and price” advantages over foreign manufacturers but said that Chinese companies would need to find new ways to circumvent the “Buy America” requirements.
One of the ways suggested is to build manufacturing facilities in the United States.
Two months ago, through its North American subsidiary, Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., one of China’s leading brands of EV chargers, spent $13.5 million for a 195,000-square-foot
facility in Greensboro, North Carolina, to build a new EV manufacturing site.
The current waiver makes it easier for Chinese companies to penetrate the U.S. EV charging market. Under the waiver, all EV chargers manufactured on or after July 1, 2024, must have at least 55 percent of the cost associated with components made, and the final assembly occurred in the United States to qualify for federal financial assistance, including tax credits. Before July 1, 2024, there’s no component requirement; only the final assembly must occur in the United States.
“Congress mandated the ‘Buy America’ requirements for a reason, to bring jobs and manufacturing back to the United States and reduce our dependence on China,” Mr. Marshall said in a statement. “Waiving this requirement is a step in the wrong direction and a complete and total backtrack on Biden’s pledge to prioritize the reshoring of critical supply chains.”
Representatives of FHWA, an agency of the Department of Transportation, didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
