{"id":8935,"date":"2022-09-24T22:40:25","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T22:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=8935"},"modified":"2022-09-24T22:40:25","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T22:40:25","slug":"the-democrats-new-inflation-bill-includes-tax-credits-for-electric-vehicles-that-dont-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=8935","title":{"rendered":"The Democrats’ New Inflation Bill Includes Tax Credits for Electric Vehicles That Don’t Exist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“The bill also puts restrictions on which EVs can qualify. Starting in 2024, an EV that qualifies for the full rebate amount must source at least 40 percent<\/a> of its battery’s components\u2014including minerals such as lithium, cobalt, manganese, and graphite\u2014from either the U.S. or a country with which the U.S. has a trade agreement. Also starting in 2024, no<\/em> minerals can be sourced from a “foreign entity of concern,” such as China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stipulation was part of a compromise<\/a> with Sen. Joe Manchin (D\u2013W.Va.), whose support was critical to the bill’s passage. Manchin insisted that the bill take a hard line on China, telling reporters: “I don’t believe that we should be building a transportation mode on the backs of foreign supply chains. I’m not going to do it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But 60\u201380 percent<\/a> of EV batteries’ mineral ingredients are controlled by China. That country currently produces<\/a> 76 percent of the world’s lithium-ion batteries, while the U.S. produces only 8 percent. Despite ambitious plans to scale up, the U.S. and Europe together will likely account for only about a quarter<\/a> of total global production of EV component minerals by 2030.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Politico<\/em> suggests<\/a> that the government can simply get around these strictures by issuing waivers, much as it has done for steel tariffs. In practice<\/a>, steel waivers incentivized cronyism, with Washington bureaucrats picking and choosing which companies received waivers and which did not. And if a law has problems, surely the best place to deal with that is in the text of the legislation itself, not an unstated hope that the administrative state will fix the issues when they arise.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Democrats’ New Inflation Bill Includes Tax Credits for Electric Vehicles That Don’t Exist<\/a><\/blockquote>