Republicans are moving bills to exploit a weakness in the IRA's electric vehicle credit: China's role in the global economy, Jael writes.

Why it matters: The effort presages how a Trump administration or GOP-controlled Congress may whittle the IRA's consumer EV tax credit program.

Driving the news: Two bills targeting President Biden's trade deals and EV industry IP licensing agreements won approval along party lines yesterday from the Ways & Means Committee.

• One of the measures would redefine a "free trade agreement" in the IRA to rule out mini-trade deals on minerals like the one Biden struck with Japan.
• FTAs are crucial for cars to get the minerals-focused part of the EV credit — a policy that's intended to build a non-China minerals supply chain.

The other measure would make it so that qualifying manufacturers can't use "licensing agreements" with "foreign entities of concern" — a term used for Chinese businesses.

• This is the issue that Republicans (and Joe Manchin) have with the Ford-CATL battery plant.

Between the lines: One would think bills undermining the IRA wouldn't stand a chance in the Senate. Yet on China policy, there's more than meets the eye.

• House Democrats chafed at these bills during markup. But we're also watching the bipartisan frustration with that Japan deal.
• The loudest critic has been Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden. He told Jael he was unfamiliar with the House bill, but had texted with W&M Chair Jason Smith and pledged to get an update.

What they're saying: Raja Krishnamoorthi, ranking member on the House China select committee, told Jael that on these foreign supply chains, the "big issue here is: what are the alternatives?"

• "Have we stood up any kind of supply chain in America or elsewhere that may be non-CCP related that can take the place of whatever we are seeking to phase out?"

What industry's saying: Al Gore III of the Zero Emission Transportation Association defended the Biden administration's approach to the foreign sourcing language.

• "[They're] rightly oriented around strengthening our control of battery and mineral supply chains and creating jobs across the United States," he said.

What's next: The most bipartisan space for anti-China bills on EV supply chains is the House select committee, which just lost its chair, Mike Gallagher, who is leaving Congress.

• The new chair is John Moolenaar, whom you may recall authored legislation that would bar DOE from funding companies with China-related business deals.
• "I think [Moolenaar] is going to continue Mike's general direction and his approach in the direction of bipartisanship," Krishnamoorthi said.

There's growing bipartisan momentum on the Hill for banning or restricting Chinese EVs, Jael and Nick write.

Why it matters: Washington is uniting — at least rhetorically — against these imports, which would make more cheap EVs available to the public but which may compete with American businesses.

What they're saying: Sherrod Brown called for a ban on these cars; the House China select committee is investigating them; and President Biden's now saying that they're a security threat.

• Yesterday, Debbie Stabenow questioned U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai in a hearing about the vehicles posing "a significant threat" to American manufacturing.
• Tai replied: "We have to take action."
• "The specific challenge of EVs is actually a part of a larger pattern that we have seen over and over and over again. First it was steel and aluminum. Then it was solar panels," Tai said.

That's not to mention Josh Hawley, who has proposed raising tariffs on Chinese cars to 125%, in line with Donald Trump's recent campaign pledge.

Our thought bubble: No matter who wins the White House, this is one of those issues that could look much the same.

• Biden just yesterday called for significantly increasing existing tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, key auto metals.
• "I think we should use some trade remedies. This is state ownership. This is clearly dumping," Rep. Dan Kildee told Nick.

The omission of LNG language in the House's foreign aid bills means fewer realistic paths for the GOP to reverse the export pause, Nick writes.

The big picture: Republicans need help from Democrats to pass the foreign aid bills, and leadership intends them to be bipartisan.

State of play: The foreign aid package is split into four bills: Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and a "sidecar" with sanctions and other policy items.

• The fourth bill includes the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act and the Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act.
• There's also an amendment pending to add the Senate-passed Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act.

Zoom in: Rep. August Pfluger has proposed an amendment to the Ukraine title that would add his bill to kick export approval authority over to FERC.

• He's also proposed a DOE funding prohibition contingent on the agency granting pending LNG terminal applications.

What's next: The Rules Committee was still deciding which amendments would get floor consideration as of press time.

• But LNG could be a poison pill that derails support from Democrats.

☀️ 1. Solar forecast: The Biden administration plans to restore tariffs on Chinese solar imports, Reuters reports.

• Solar tariffs caused a huge fight on the Hill last year and are likely to be an ongoing point in trade policy debates.

🤷‍♂️ 2. One more estimate: DOE fossil energy chief Brad Crabtree today told House lawmakers the LNG export pause — and its 60-day public comment period — would be "completed by the end of the first quarter of 2025."

• We take all these timelines with an giant beaker of salt. Jennifer Granholm said this week she thinks the study will be done "around the end of the year."

🐋 3. Whale of a CRA: Rep. Greg Murphy says he'll file a Congressional Review Act to overturn NOAA's right whale vessel strike rules if they're finalized.

🏔️ 4. Landscape by BLM: BLM today finalized a public lands rule that makes conservation a priority alongside extraction and logging.

• It was predictably praised by Democrats and panned by Republicans.