The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill last week that would ban tax credits for electric vehicles (EVs) that use Chinese battery technology. 

H.R. 7980, named the “End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles in America Act of 2024,” passed the House with 217-198. It has not been picked up by the Senate. 

 The Alliance for Automotive Innovation released a statement from CEO John Bozzella saying Biden administration’s federal greenhouse gas emissions standards and “aggressive” EV sale targets would need to be rolled back if the bill passes. 

“Why? Because those standards and targets (we called them the ‘ragged edge of achievable’) were based in part on the availability of consumer incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act. Remember, to even qualify for those incentives – vehicles need to be built in North America and can‘t have battery components or critical minerals from China starting in 2025,”  Bozzella says in the statement. “If the incentives go away now? The automotive industrial base faces a serious economic and national security risk from China, the U.S. becomes less competitive, and the rug is pulled out from consumers.”

Bozzella said that currently 22 of the 113 electrified models available for sale in the nation are eligible for the 30D tax credit. This includes battery electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cells. Thirteen of the 22 models are eligible for full credit and nine are eligible for partial credit.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the bill restricts tax credits for vehicles using “battery technology licensed from China” if the deal is more than $5 million. 

The Inflation Reduction Act already banned tax credits for EVs using batteries made in China, SCMP says. 

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