It has been 15 months since the US IRA issued its Inflation Reduction Act. In the rule, in order to develop the domestic new energy industry in the United States, it sets a fairly strict threshold for subsidies for electric vehicles, and more than 50% of battery components and materials must be manufactured or assembled in North America to be eligible for tax incentives.
In order to achieve the purpose of self-built industrial chains, it is understandable that the United States has such "strict" regulations. But recently, the United States has begun to target China with an "open card".It said that electric vehicles that contain battery components made or assembled in China will not be eligible for the $7,500 subsidy in the United States.
Electric vehicles containing certain Chinese-made products will not be eligible for the consumer tax credit, according to proposed local guidance issued on Friday. This will apply to Chinese-made battery modules in 2024 and to China-sourced critical minerals from 2025.
Some foreign media pointed out that the US action implied that its efforts to promote electric vehicles are more to "decouple from China" than to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that cause global warming.
In the spring of this year, Biden's adviser Jake Sullivan said: "The clean energy chain is at risk of being ** like oil in the 70s of the last century or natural gas in Europe in 2022." That statement explains the motivation of the United States for making the guidance last Friday.
But when it comes to electric vehicles,Many ** are not optimistic about the ability of the United States to produce electric vehicles under restrictionsBecause they fear that the more the U.S. decouples from China, the slower it will be to achieve its decarbonization goals through electric vehicles. At the time of the launch of the IRA, the tax incentives were only available for a limited number of models, but now they will be further narrowed.
At the same time, in the proposed guidelines,:It will also disqualify China-based merchants, even if they are subsidiaries of U.S. companies. In addition, ** companies headquartered outside of China will also be disqualified if the Chinese company owns at least 25% of the shares.
These restrictions are tough for automakers, as most North American automakers are still heavily dependent on China for their chains. In the first half of this year,U.S. imports of lithium-ion batteries from China rose 50% from a year earlier to $6 billion.
Prior to the proposed guidance, only 15 of the more than 50 major EVs sold in the U.S. (less than a third) met the criteria, and the additional requirements could further reduce the number of eligible EVs. The fewer eligible EVs mean the slower the adoption of zero-emission vehicles in the U.S. market.
The U.S.** will also have about a month to hear public guidance before finalizing the rules, although the final guidelines are likely to be more stringent than proposed.