Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Sep 16, 2025

Congressional Democrats: Not a chance of reopening climate law

Congressional Democrats: Not a chance of reopening climate law

The president has been clear about his support for establishing a U.S. manufacturing base for electric vehicles.

Members of Congress have an answer for French President Emmanuel Macron’s pleas for a relaxation of U.S. green-energy subsidies: “Non merci.”

Macron is using his visit to Washington this week to ask President Joe Biden to back off the “Made in America” requirements of the new U.S. climate law. European leaders say those provisions discriminate against the EU electric vehicle manufacturers and other clean industries — and raise the danger of a transatlantic trade war.

But key Democratic lawmakers have little appetite for amending the landmark law.

The legislation’s $369 billion in climate investments provide subsidies for U.S. green industry and offer a hefty consumer tax credit for electric vehicles built in North America. And that’s exactly how it should work, the Democrats say.

“I’m not reopening this law. We’re not going to reopen the text of it,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the Senate’s chief tax and trade lawmaker. He said the legislation was meant to create “more good-paying American jobs.”

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) also dismissed the chances of Congress amending the law to accommodate automakers based in the EU and other U.S. allies, which want the electric vehicles they make overseas to qualify for the maximum $7,500-a-vehicle tax credit.


Sen. Debbie Stabenow speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol.

Those imported electric vehicles qualified for U.S. clean energy tax credits for years, before Biden signed his prized Inflation Reduction Act. The legislation’s explicit goal was to create more U.S. manufacturing jobs.

“We’d love to have them come and build plants here and then be a part of it,” Stabenow said of the foreign automakers. But “we’re not going to be” changing the law.

Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said European partners “have long engaged in substantial investments in their domestic industries.”

“With the Inflation Reduction Act, we are investing to ensure that America, not China, leads the transition to electric vehicles,” he added.

The brewing fight over U.S. electric vehicle tax credits and other provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act is posing a new threat to transatlantic trade relations not seen since former President Donald Trump was in the White House. Even as Democrats talk up the need for better economic cooperation with allies post-Trump, the EU and other economies with substantial auto industries will be hard-pressed to find a sympathetic ear on Capitol Hill.

Democrats, who will maintain control of the Senate next year, will not want to reopen one of the Biden administration’s greatest legislative achievements. Republicans, set to take narrow control of the House and generally opposed to the broader climate legislation, could be reluctant to push for an amendment at the behest of foreign interests.

Biden has been clear about his support for establishing a U.S. manufacturing base for electric vehicles.

“Just like over the last century, American workers built carburetors. Now American workers are gonna build vehicle batteries in a new clean energy economy,” he said in a speech in Michigan on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden speaks about manufacturing jobs and the economy in Bay City, Mich., on Tuesday.


The United States and France will issue a joint statement from the Biden-Macron meeting, but barring a major surprise it is not expected to include a breakthrough on Europe’s concerns. Still, the U.S. and EU will continue a bilateral dialogue on the issue that Biden administration officials insist has been “productive,” even though no resolution has emerged yet.

France and other European nations are meanwhile coalescing around their own response. Macron argues that the IRA is “not in line with the rules of the World Trade Organization,” as he put it in early November in France during a meeting with industry representatives.

And French Trade Minister Olivier Becht said the European Union, which sets trade policy for the 27-nation bloc, may resort to “coercive” trade measures if the U.S. doesn’t modify or reinterpret the law so that “European companies benefit from the same conditions as American companies.”

Wyden said Europe only has to look in the mirror, especially when it comes to how the EU has targeted American big tech firms with digital taxation rules.

“If anybody is talking about coercion, what I’ve seen is what they’ve been doing in terms of digital taxes and harming our high-skill, high-wage job sector,” he said. “So if you want to talk about examples, that’ll be the first one that comes to mind.”

The White House has said it is ready to hear Macron out.

“The bottom line for us, is first of all we want to understand the concern,” said White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby. “We’re absolutely willing to have that conversation and to find a way to work through those issues of concern.”

But in the face of what is shaping up to be a clean energy subsidy race, the Biden administration’s line is that there’s no downside to more government support for climate initiatives.

“Our perspective is if you look at the economics of this, if you look at the amount of need around clean energy investments, around renewables investments, around EVs, there’s just a huge amount to be done — and more, frankly, to be done than the market would provide for on its own,” a senior administration official said on a call with reporters.

Former Vice President Al Gore weighed in on the American side Tuesday, telling a POLITICO sustainability summit in Brussels that the EU and other governments should “match what the U.S. has done.”

The numbers on auto trade also hamper the case for the U.S. to amend the law.

In 2021, EU nations, led by Germany, shipped about $22 billion more automobile exports to the U.S. than America sent to Europe.

The EU, as a bloc, also imposes a 10 percent tariff on cars from the U.S. while the U.S. imposes only a 2.5 percent tariff on European car imports. The U.S. auto trade deficit is one reason Trump threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on European autos, although he never followed through on that.

President Joe Biden, right, shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron, center, during the G-20 leaders' summit in Indonesia on Nov. 15, 2022.


A big breakthrough for Macron would be some kind of concession that allows European companies the same IRA tax benefits as American, Canadian and Mexican companies enjoy. But for now, that seems unlikely.

A French official confirmed they are working with the EU to persuade Biden to make changes, while moving ahead with efforts to forge a “Buy European Act” back home to respond to the increased U.S. competition. “We don’t expect these concessions to be announced soon or during the visit. But it is what we are advocating,” the official said.

In theory, the Treasury Department, which is implementing the law, could come up with an interpretation of the law’s text that allows European vehicles to access the subsidies. But that would surely anger U.S. unions, whose support Biden needs going into reelection. And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has downplayed the chances of that, saying in October that the law “is what it is.”

Still, Europe is not the only ally that is upset. Both Japan and South Korea are urging the administration to implement the law in a way that minimizes the impact on foreign suppliers who have made investments to build facilities in the United States.

South Korean automaker Hyundai, for example, announced plans in May to invest $5.54 billion to build new electric vehicle and battery manufacturing plants in Georgia that are expected to create 8,100 new full-time jobs.

But that facility won’t begin producing electric vehicles until 2025, so it wants the Treasury Department to either delay implementation of a North American final assembly requirement or provide a waiver for companies that announced investment plans before the new law went into effect.

Toyota, which says it has invested more than $36 billion in U.S. automotive production facilities since 1998, is spending $3.8 billion on a new plant in North Carolina that is expected to create 2,100 jobs building batteries for about 1.2 million vehicles each year. But it also is not expected to become operational until 2025.

The automakers may have more luck on that front with Treasury. “There’s discussions about giving them more time,” Stabenow confirmed on Capitol Hill.

The Treasury Department is expected to issue guidance on how it will implement the new law by the end of the year, providing several more weeks for foreign governments and car companies to lobby the Biden administration on the issue.

Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
×