Manchin Slams Biden’s EV Tax Credit Rules as Soft on China

(Bloomberg) -- New rules from the Biden administration to limit a lucrative consumer tax credit for electric vehicles that contain ingredients from China and other foreign adversaries drew the wrath of Senator Joe Manchin, who said the requirements were fraught with loopholes.

The Treasury Department rules “are another example of the Biden administration clearly breaking the law to try to implement a bill that it could not pass,” the West Virginia senator said Friday in an emailed statement. “This administration is, yet again, trying to find workarounds and delays that leave the door wide open for China to benefit off the backs of American taxpayers.”

At issue are new requirements meant to disqualify certain vehicles from receiving the $7,500 EV tax credit. Manchin, who provided the pivotal vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which extended those credits, inserted language into the climate law that disqualified vehicles with battery ingredients from China and other so-called foreign entities of concern.

Read More: US Sets Stringent Limits on Chinese Content for EV Tax Credit

The regulations made public Friday by the Biden administration set a 25% ownership threshold for a company or group to be classified as a foreign entity of concern and they appear to leave the door open for some licensing arrangements to continue.

This isn’t the first time Manchin has clashed with the Biden administration over the White House’s interpretation of the Inflation Reduction Act. He has frequently accused the administration of ignoring federal mandates in the act and has accused US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen of “not following the law” in abiding by EV tax credit restrictions he put into the climate law.

“I will take every avenue and opportunity to reverse this unlawful, shameful proposed rule and protect our energy security, that includes pushing the Treasury Department to make revisions, pursuing a Congressional Review Act resolution and supporting any lawsuit against the rule,” Manchin said in his statement.

Manchin said in mid-November that he wouldn’t seek reelection in a blow to Democrats’ prospects for keeping the Senate majority in 2025. Instead, Manchin said he was considering launching a presidential bid, a campaign that could shake up the 2024 election.

(Updates with details on Manchin’s political future in last paragraph.)

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Author: Ari Natter