The good news for Canada’s auto industry is that Canadian-built electric vehicles might some day be eligible for a US$7,500 tax credit under the breakthrough climate bill that U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law later this week, which scraps the Buy American provisions of an earlier legislative proposal that failed to win congressional approval.
“Right now, we’re about ready to put our whole eggs in one basket, thinking EVs are the way to go, and we’re going to be absolutely so taken advantage of, to the point to where we’re going to be held hostage by the foreign supply chain that China has a grip on,” Mr. Manchinin June. “I just can’t believe we’re even thinking about going down that path, and I’m going to do everything I can to stop it. Because I think it’s stupid.
Much will depend on future gasoline prices. Data from car-shopping website Edmunds showed that U.S. consumer interest in EVs rose as gas prices surged in the first quarter of 2022, butin subsequent months as consumers became accustomed to higher prices at the pump. When gas prices began falling in late June, so did interest in EVs.