Carol Miller in January. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
House Republicans offered a preview of how they might seek to change the IRA next year short of a full repeal.
Why it matters: The GOP wants to add new anti-China restrictions that Democrats and automakers fear could effectively kill the IRA's EV tax credit.
Driving the news: The House passed the End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles in America Act this morning 217-192, with seven Democrats voting "yes."
- It won't become law this year, but Rep. Carol Miller, the bill's sponsor, told Axios she sees it as a possible player in the looming 2025 tax debate.
Zoom in: Miller's bill would prohibit EVs with battery components extracted, recycled or manufactured by a "foreign entity of concern" — namely China — as defined by the IIJA from claiming the 30D credit.
- That would also explicitly extend to licensing or royalty deals, a gray area that Republicans have repeatedly probed after Ford's partnership with Chinese battery maker CATL.
- "We can do it here. We can provide the minerals," she said. "We're having to work hard to do it, but we can do it."
The incentive already has foreign sourcing requirements. Just 22 of the more than 100 EVs on sale domestically qualify.
- Miller argues her bill would align the 30D rules to be consistent with FEOC definitions across government.
The other side: Automakers think this addition would effectively make 30D unusable, and Democrats argued on the House floor that it's a backdoor attempt to kill the credit.
- "If the incentives go away now? The automotive industrial base faces a serious economic and national security risk from China," John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said in a statement.
- The White House similarly issued a statement this week arguing that the bill would add "new, unclear, and unworkable restrictions."
Our thought bubble: The fact that this was bipartisan, even nominally so, is worth thinking about as we head into a contentious fight about the IRA with the expiration of the Trump tax cuts next year.
- The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the legislation would raise $660 million by 2034, and Republicans will be seeking any avenue to trim the IRA and pay for corporate and other tax cuts.
What we're watching: Miller heads up the GOP supply chains tax team for Ways and Means.
- Miller also has sponsored a bill to add FEOC language to the 45X advanced manufacturing credit, an idea backed by Sen. Sherrod Brown and other Democrats. She mentioned that as another possibility for 2025.
- Full repeal of the IRA, as is now widely acknowledged, would be difficult. But, Miller said, "everything's on the table next year."
