On Friday, April 11, MichAuto Director of Government and Community Affairs Paul Corbett participated in a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill hosted by the Electrification Coalition and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.
“Standing Up to China: How Will Congress Respond to the Existential Threat to the U.S. Auto Industry” focused on key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that have improved the strategic positioning of domestic EV manufacturing and clean energy production but now could be eliminated as part of the tax cut and budget negotiations currently being deliberated on in Washington, DC.
During the briefing congressional staffers heard from a variety leading advocates from the auto industry on the increasing dominance of China’s massive EV industry and the importance of various Inflation Reduction Act tax credits to better position the United States to respond to this threat.
In addition to Paul Corbett from MichAuto Government Affairs team, also presenting were John Bozzella, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Cristina Krasow, Federal Affairs Manager for American Honda Motor Co., Michael Dunne, Chief Executive Officer of Dunne Insights, and Joe Pittel, General Counsel and Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs for Samsung SDI America Inc.
The briefing helped drive the message to congressional staff that certain IRA provisions remain a vitally important element to help scale EV and alternative energy growth in the U.S. These include both the Advanced Manufacturing Credits known as 45X and the Consumer EV Credits known as 30D. This is because while 45X is helping build domestic battery and critical mineral supply chains, it won’t achieve that goal alone. Demand-side support via 30D and the foreign entity restrictions embedded in it, coupled with yet to be passed federal permitting reform, is essential to both spur domestic EV demand and create the economic incentives needed to shift battery supply chains and EV production away from China and toward the U.S.