US unveils $1.7 billion boost to electric vehicle manufacturing

US unveils $1.7 billion boost to electric vehicle manufacturing

/ 02:23 PM July 12, 2024

A Chicago Transit Authority electric bus charges at Navy Pier Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in Chicago.

FILE – A Chicago Transit Authority electric bus charges at Navy Pier Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in Chicago. The Biden administration is awarding nearly $2 billion in grants to help restart or expand electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly sites in eight states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Grants totaling $1.7 billion will be issued by the Energy Department to create or retain thousands of union jobs and support auto-based communities that have long driven the U.S. economy, the White House said Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)

Washington, United States — US President Joe Biden’s administration said Thursday it is issuing $1.7 billion in grants to help expand or revive auto facilities for making electric vehicles and parts — including in election battlegrounds Michigan and Georgia.

The funds will go towards converting 11 shuttered or at-risk facilities in eight states, covering another battleground Pennsylvania, and others like Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.

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The aim is to help them retrofit to make EVs and officials said the investment — paid for by the Inflation Reduction Act — will save 15,000 jobs.

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“This investment will create thousands of good-paying, union manufacturing jobs and retain even more — from Lansing, Michigan to Fort Valley, Georgia –- by helping auto companies retool, reboot, and rehire in the same factories and communities,” said Biden in a statement.

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The announcement comes as Biden, 81, battles calls to end his reelection bid after a disastrous debate performance against Republican Donald Trump last month.

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It is also the latest Biden administration effort to support US industries in the face of competition from China.

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US leaders in recent months have warned that excess industrial capacity in the world’s second largest economy could bring a flood of low priced goods to the market, potentially hurting budding clean energy industries elsewhere.

Washington also announced sharp tariff hikes on Chinese imports earlier this year, including on EVs.

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READ: Small, well-built Chinese EV poses a big threat to the US auto industry

“There is nothing harder to a manufacturing community than to lose jobs to foreign competition and a changing industry,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

She noted that the grants will help to “ensure that our automotive industry stays competitive,” saying that the sector needs a federal partner when competing with other countries who subsidize their auto industries.

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Beneficiaries include automakers like General Motors, Fiat-Chrysler and Volvo.

TAGS: electric vehicles (EVs), Joe Biden

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