Energy

Biden Boasts About Bringing Back Manufacturing While Subsidizing Foreign-Made EVs

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Nick Pope Contributor
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President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle (EV) policies are subsidizing EVs assembled in Mexico as the president and administration officials travel the U.S. to tout the administration’s commitment to reviving American manufacturing.

The made-in-Mexico Ford Mustang Mach-E is eligible for tax credits under the Biden administration’s massive EV subsidy package made available through the Inflation Reduction Act, which the Biden administration helped craft, according to The Verge. The subsidizing of foreign labor conflicts with recent statements from Biden and his team stressing the importance of reshoring domestic manufacturing.

The Ford Mach-E will be eligible for tax credits of $3,750 if it does not meet tighter sourcing standards set in April 2023 for the essential minerals used to build electric batteries, according to The Verge. The Mexican Ford plant employs about 885 hourly workers, according to Ford’s website. (RELATED: AFL-CIO Head Appears Uncomfortable In Axios Interview About Biden And Keystone XL)

Ford received a generous $9.2 billion loan from the government in June 2023 to build new battery plants in the U.S. with a South Korean partner firm, then proceeded to lay off about 1,000 of its workers. The president of United Auto Workers, Shawn Fain, blasted the Ford loan, calling it a “no strings attached” arrangement that is “actively funding the race to the bottom with billions in public money,” according to a June press release.

The UAW is a powerful union representing more than 400,000 auto workers and a traditional stalwart supporter of Democratic candidates, according to its website. The union has yet to endorse Biden’s 2024 run due in part to tension over the EV policies and the threat they pose to the jobs of American auto workers.

The Biden administration recently embarked on a press tour boasting of the success of “Bidenomics” and Biden’s efforts to fund domestic manufacturing.

A White House press release announcing Biden’s “investing in America blitz” claimed that the administration’s green energy agenda “is driving a manufacturing and clean energy boom, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, lowering costs and creating good-paying jobs.” When he traveled to South Carolina to give a July 6 speech on his economic agenda, Biden boasted that his policies have led to the addition of “nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs” in the American economy.

Biden said that “every venture to manufacture clean energy technology would be made stronger by collective bargaining relationships” between employees and American firms in the July 6 South Carolina speech.

“The President believes that new jobs building electric vehicles should be at least as good as current jobs building traditional cars — including by ensuring employers respect workers’ choice to organize a union and engage in collective bargaining. He has directed his team to take all appropriate steps to achieve that goal,” White House spokeswoman Robyn Patterson said Tuesday, according to The Washington Post.

Biden declared his personal intention “to be the most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history” in September 2021.

Ford, the UAW and the White House all did not respond immediately to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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