The Biden Administration in yet another desperate attempt to forestall the implosion of the EV market is giving indirect aid to China. Not that Joe Biden doesn't have 31 million reasons to appease China, of course. The latest favor to China and the dying EV industry is all about graphite, the stuff used to make pencils and EV batteries.
Here is the gist of the story from the Korea Joongang Daily:
The U.S. government announced a two-year grace period before the regulations on battery materials under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) become enforceable, giving Korean battery makers until the end of 2026 to secure an alternative supply of key EV minerals such as graphite from non-Chinese companies…
Graphite is the main product in EV batteries with a supply heavily dependent on Chinese imports. Under the relaxed IRA guidelines, key materials including graphite were categorized as “impracticable-to-trace” and the U.S. government will defer implementing the rule that bans materials sourced from foreign entities of concern (FEOC) such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
The U.S. government under the IRA provides subsidies of up to $7,500 in tax credits for EV manufacturers, providing $3,750 each for complying with regulations on EV battery components and key minerals. However, manufacturers who procure parts or key materials from FEOC are ineligible for these benefits.
With the law regarding components coming into effect this year, the number of EV models eligible for credit fell sharply to 19 from last year's 43.
New guidelines on the amount of eligible key battery minerals needed for the subsidies were also proposed. In last year’s provisional guidelines, manufacturers would be considered eligible if they got more than 50 percent of their key minerals from mining or processing in the United States or its free trade agreement (FTA) partners.
In the revised guidelines, the 50 percent threshold scrapped and changed to only take into consideration the relative proportion of value generated from within the United States or its FTA partner countries.
The clause also grants EV makers a two-year grace period…
The Trade Ministry will hold a joint private-public sector meeting chaired by Ahn on Wednesday to discuss industry impacts and plans for diversifying key battery materials based on the IRA revisions.
What does "relative proportion” mean? Absolutely nothing other than the right of the Biden folks to decide. The important thing is the two-year grace period, which allows EV makers and China to benefit so both can steal from us.
Yes, it's that bad!
#WhatACountry #EVs #Graphite #China
Still not buying an EV.