On April 25, 2023, a Chevrolet Bolt electric car was parked at a charging station at Stewart Chevrolet in Colma, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
incoming president of the united states Donald Trump’s A document seen by Reuters showed the transition team recommended sweeping changes to cut off support for electric vehicles and charging stations and tighten measures to block cars, parts and battery materials from China.
The recommendations, which have not been previously reported, come as the U.S. electric vehicle transition has stalled and China’s heavily subsidized EV industry continues to thrive, in part because of its superior battery supply chain. On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to loosen regulations on fossil fuel vehicles and undo what he called presidential policies Joe Biden’s Mandatory requirements for electric vehicles.
The transition team also recommended imposing tariffs on all battery materials globally to boost U.S. production and then negotiating individual exemptions with allies, the documents show.
Overall, the recommendations stand in stark contrast to the Biden administration’s policies, which seek to balance encouraging a domestic battery supply chain independent of China with a rapid transition to electric vehicles. The transition team’s plan would redirect funding currently flowing toward building charging stations and making electric vehicles affordable toward defense priorities, including ensuring supplies of batteries and critical minerals needed to make them are not compromised by China.
The proposals come from the Trump transition team, which is tasked with developing strategies for quickly implementing new auto policies. The team also called for eliminating the Biden administration’s $7,500 tax credit for consumers on electric vehicle purchases, a plan first reported by Reuters last month. The policies could deal a blow to U.S. electric vehicle sales and production at a time when many traditional automakers, such as General Motors Co. and Hyundai Motor Co., have recently launched a wider range of electric products into the U.S. market.
Cutting government support for electric vehicles could also hurt sales at Elon Musk’s Tesla, the leading seller of electric vehicles in the United States. But Musk, who spent more than $250 million to help elect Trump, said losing subsidies would hurt rivals more than Tesla.
The transition team called for clawing back remaining funds from Biden’s $7.5 billion plan to build charging stations and shifting funds to battery mineral processing and “defense supply chains and critical infrastructure.”
The document says that while batteries, minerals and other EV parts are “critical to defense production,” EVs “and charging stations are not.”
In recent years, the Defense Department has highlighted U.S. strategic vulnerabilities as China dominates the mining and refining of critical minerals, including graphite and lithium needed for batteries and rare earth metals used in electric vehicles and military aircraft.
A 2021 government report said the U.S. military faces “escalating power demands” from technology such as weapons and communications equipment. The report found that “reliable sources of critical minerals and materials” are “vital to U.S. national security.”
Trump transition spokesperson Carolyn Leavitt said voters gave Trump a mandate to deliver on campaign promises, including ending the government’s attack on gasoline-powered cars.
“President Trump will support the auto industry and make room for gasoline-powered and electric vehicles as he takes office,” Levitt said in a statement.
Allow more exhaust pollution
Global automakers have been switching to electric vehicles, in part to comply with tighter government limits on climate-damaging exhaust pollution.
But the transition team’s recommendations would allow automakers to build more gasoline-powered vehicles by lowering emissions and fuel economy standards advocated by the Biden administration. The transition team recommends returning these regulations to 2019 levels, which would increase emissions per vehicle mile by about 25% on average and reduce average fuel economy by about 15% over current 2025 limits.
The proposal also recommends preventing California from setting its own stricter vehicle emissions standards, which more than a dozen other states have already adopted. Trump barred California from enacting stricter requirements during his first term, a policy Biden reversed.
California has asked the EPA for another exemption to include more stringent requirements starting in 2026 and eventually requiring all vehicles to be electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen-powered by 2035. .
Many of the transition team’s proposals appear aimed at encouraging domestic battery production, primarily for defense-related benefits. Other measures appear aimed at protecting U.S. automakers, even those making electric vehicles.
These suggestions include:
– Imposing tariffs on imported products from the “electric vehicle supply chain”, including batteries, critical minerals and charging components. The proposal seen by Reuters said the government should use Section 232 tariffs targeting national security threats to restrict imports of such products.
The Biden administration recently increased tariffs on several Chinese imports mentioned in Trump’s transition documents, including lithium-ion batteries, graphite and “permanent magnets” used in electric vehicles and military applications. These tariffs are imposed for economic rather than security reasons.
– Waives environmental reviews to expedite “federally funded electric vehicle infrastructure projects,” including battery recycling and production, charging stations and critical minerals manufacturing.
– Expand export restrictions on electric vehicle battery technology from hostile countries.
– Support the export of U.S.-made electric vehicle batteries through the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
– Use tariffs as a “negotiating tool” to open foreign markets to U.S. auto exports, including electric vehicles.
– Eliminate requirements for federal agencies to purchase electric vehicles. Biden’s policy requires that all cars and small trucks purchased by the federal government be zero-emission vehicles by the end of 2027.
– Ending the Department of Defense’s program to purchase or develop electric military vehicles. (Reporting Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia and Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles
