President Donald Trump applauds Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm during a tax reform event, September 6, 2017. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is preparing to eliminate the Biden administration’s $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit as part of its broader tax reform plan, Reuters reported Thursday.
Trump’s energy-policy team, led by oil magnate Harold Hamm and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R.), has held several meetings to discuss repealing the EV subsidy, a cornerstone of President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, sources told Reuters.
Trump plans to use savings from ending the tax credit to help fund the extension of his 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of 2025, Reuters reported. With the GOP retaining control of the House, congressional Republicans plan to make broader tax reform a top priority.
The move aligns with Trump’s campaign pledge to "reverse Joe Biden's extreme electric vehicle mandate on Day One," ensuring Americans have the freedom to choose their vehicles while bolstering U.S. energy independence and traditional energy industries.
The Environmental Protection Agency this year finalized the most stringent tailpipe emissions standards to date, starting with the 2027 model year, Fox News reported. Under the plan, automakers will need to ensure 56 percent of light-duty car sales are battery electric and 13 percent are plug-in hybrids by 2032, meaning nearly 70 percent of new vehicles sold will be zero-emissions or low-emissions.
Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed the EPA’s mandate, saying that the Biden administration wants to "force Americans to buy ultra-expensive cars they do not want and cannot afford while destroying the U.S. auto industry in the process."
"This radical policy is anti-jobs, anti-consumer and anti-American," Leavitt continued. "It will destroy the livelihoods of countless U.S. autoworkers while sending the U.S. auto industry to China."
