Trump transition team plans complete rollback of Biden EV and emissions policies

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has announced sweeping measures to end support for electric vehicles and charging stations and tighten measures to cut off vehicles, parts and battery materials from China, according to documents seen by Reuters. Recommends changes.

The recommendation, not previously reported, comes as the U.S. transition to electric vehicles stalls and China’s heavily subsidized EV industry continues to grow thanks to China’s superior battery supply chain. It was served inside. On the campaign trail, President Trump vowed to ease regulations on fossil fuel vehicles and repeal what he called President Joe Biden’s EV mandate.

The transition team also recommends imposing tariffs on all battery materials around the world and negotiating individual exemptions with allies after efforts to expand U.S. production, according to the document. .

Taken together, the recommendations represent a significant departure from the Biden administration’s policy, which sought to balance a rapid transition to EVs with the promotion of a domestic battery supply chain separate from China. The transition team’s plan is to direct current funding to building charging stations and making EVs more affordable, and to improve national defense, including securing supplies from China of batteries and the minerals essential to their production. It will focus on priorities.

The proposal comes from Trump’s transition team, which was charged with developing a strategy to quickly implement new auto policy. The team also wants to eliminate the Biden administration’s $7,500 tax credit for consumer EV purchases, which Reuters first reported last month. The policy could hurt U.S. EV sales and production, as many traditional automakers, including General Motors and Hyundai, have recently introduced a wide range of electric products to the U.S. market.

A reduction in government support for EVs could also have a negative impact on the sales of Elon Musk’s Tesla, the leading EV sales company in the United States. But Musk, who spent more than $250 million to elect Trump, said losing the subsidies would hurt rivals more than Tesla.

The transition team is calling for any remaining funds from Biden’s $7.5 billion charging station construction plan to be redirected to battery mineral processing and “defense supply chains and critical infrastructure.”

The document says batteries, minerals and other EV components are “essential to defense production” but electric vehicles and charging stations are “non-essential.”

In recent years, the Pentagon has warned that China’s control over the mining and refining of critical minerals such as graphite and lithium, needed for batteries and rare earth metals used in both EV motors and military aircraft, makes the United States a strategic vulnerability. has been emphasized.

A 2021 government report said the U.S. military faces “increasing power demands” for weapons, communications equipment and other technology. “Reliable sources of critical minerals and materials” are “critical to the national security of the United States,” the report said.

Trump transition spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said voters gave Trump a mandate to fulfill campaign promises such as ending government attacks on gasoline-powered cars.

“Once President Trump takes office, he will support the auto industry and give space to both gasoline and electric vehicles,” Levitt said in a statement.

Automakers around the world are transitioning to electric vehicles, in part to comply with strict government limits on climate-changing tailpipe pollution.

But the transition team’s recommendations would allow automakers to produce more gas-powered cars by lowering emissions and fuel efficiency standards promoted by the Biden administration. The transition team proposes returning these regulations to 2019 levels, which would increase emissions per vehicle mile by an average of about 25% over the current 2025 limits and increase average fuel economy by about 15%. % will be lower.

The proposal also recommends blocking California from setting its own vehicle emissions standards, which are stricter than those adopted by more than a dozen other states. During his first term, Mr. Trump barred California from enacting stricter requirements, but Mr. Biden reversed that policy.

California is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a new exemption that would include stronger requirements starting in 2026, ultimately requiring all vehicles to be electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen-powered by 2035. It will be mandatory to use fuel-powered vehicles. The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency has not approved it. Request from California.

Many of the transition team’s proposals appear aimed at encouraging domestic battery production, primarily for defense-related interests. Others appear aimed at protecting automakers, including those producing EVs in the United States.

Suggestions include:

– Imposing tariffs on “EV supply chain” imports, including batteries, critical minerals and charging components. The proposal, seen by Reuters, says the administration should use Section 232 tariffs, which target national security threats, to restrict imports of such products.

The Biden administration recently increased tariffs on Chinese imports of several items mentioned in Trump’s transition documents, including EV motors, lithium-ion batteries used in military applications, graphite, and “permanent magnets.” These tariffs were imposed for economic rather than security reasons.

– Waiving environmental reviews to accelerate “federally-funded EV infrastructure projects” including battery recycling and production, charging stations, and critical mineral manufacturing.

– Expanding restrictions on the export of EV battery technology to hostile countries.

– Supporting the export of US-made EV batteries through the US Export-Import Bank.

– Use tariffs as a “negotiation tool” to open foreign markets to U.S. auto exports, including EVs.

– Eliminates the requirement that federal agencies purchase EVs. Biden’s policy would require all cars and light trucks acquired by the federal government to be zero-emission vehicles by the end of 2027.

– Ending Department of Defense programs to purchase or develop electric military vehicles. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia and Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles)