Inflation Reduction Act and trade disputes

Proposed US electric-car cash-back incentive labelled "discriminatory", could violate trade rules - Drive

The European Union and South Korea claim a new electric-car rebate in the US could breach trade regulations, as the proposed $US7500 incentive is only available for vehicles built in North America.​

This is interesting. I'd imagine China will jump in to join any EU/SK action against the US over this too.

Japan won't. The Inflation Reduction Act would only be discriminatory against them if the rules said that the incentive was only available for cars whose wheels don't fall off.

 

It leaves out a lot of cars based on price. America makes some of the cheapest EVs, but many of those won't qualify based on local content; most of those that do qualify based on local content won't qualify based on price.

I'm not sure what it does for the Model 3. The cheaper ones won't qualify based on local content if the have BYD batteries, but I don't know whether the expensive ones will fit under the price cap.

 

It is almost impossible to believe that he and his team didn't know.

But if they can say, "Well, we tried, but then these foreigners wouldn't let us", that might meet their political objectives.

Or it could be that the EU and SK are irrelevant and this is just another way to pick a fight with China, because that's a core part of US policy at the moment.

I'd be very surprised if it were an accident.