Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has vowed to end government support for electric vehicles through the use of taxes, tariffs and incentives.
Trump in a speech pledged to redirect money from the "Green New Scam," referring to the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' policies funding renewable energy projects and supporting the growth of EV manufacturing.
"I will terminate lying Kamala's electric vehicle mandate and end immediately the Green New Scam," Trump declared. "I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one, thereby saving the auto industry from complete obliteration … saving U.S. customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car."
Trump is referring to the Biden administration's emissions regulations finalized in March. The regulations – a version watered down by the Environmental Protection Agency following intense backlash from American car makers – mandate that 50 percent of all new car sales in the United States be EVs by 2030.
Trump: We are going to bring back car manufacturing and we're going to bring it back fast
Trump noted that both Mexico and China are building up their car manufacturing industries and selling their products in the U.S. with "no tax, not anything." He blamed this development on costly strikes by the United Auto Workers labor union driving away manufacturers to countries with lower operational costs.
"The United Auto Workers ought to be ashamed for allowing this to happen and the leader of the United Auto Workers should be fired immediately," said Trump, reiterating comments he'd made earlier this year about raising taxes on Chinese cars that enter the U.S. market to allow American-made vehicles to be more competitive.
Trump wants the auto manufacturing capacity that had been moved to Mexico to return to the United States.
"And if they don't agree with us, we're going to tax them approximately 100 percent – 200 percent – to make them utterly unaffordable in the United States," said Trump.
In other statements, Trump has touted how his rollback of unspent government funding for climate programs and other policies as a means of improving the economy and stabilizing inflation.
In early September, Trump pledged to rescind any unspent funding allocated to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
"To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the 'Green New Deal,' which I call the 'Green New Scam,'" said Trump in a speech before the Economic Club of New York. "It actually sets us back, as opposed to [moving] us forward. And [I will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act."
While Trump has not specified which IRA programs he would roll back, he and many other Republicans have repeatedly derided what they have branded as wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars under Biden that has driven up inflation and cost of living. He has previously pledged to redirect unspent IRA funding for "important projects like roads, bridges, dams" and to ensure money is not spent on any future "meaningless 'Green New Scam' ideas."
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