The United States should allow European electric vehicle manufacturers access to a broader range of tax incentives, according to the German association VDA, which has urged the EU to insist on new concessions from Washington.
The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act provides tax incentives for buyers of electric vehicles with batteries from domestic sources and from factories located in countries with which the U.S. has free trade agreements.
The European Union fears that U.S. incentives will harm its car manufacturers, prompting Washington to make initial concessions late last year.
Thus, the European Commission announced at the end of December that the U.S. had issued new guidelines under which companies from the EU can also receive tax incentives for ‘green’ commercial vehicles.
European companies also have access to incentives, for example, for leasing electric cars to U.S. citizens, Brussels explained.
German companies believe this is not enough.
The changes are good, but they are merely a necessary first step from the perspective of the automotive industry, stated the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA).
The new guidelines only cover a portion of the vehicles from European manufacturers that are arriving on the U.S. market, warned VDA President Hildegard Mueller to dpa on Tuesday, and leasing cars is not particularly popular among Americans.
The European Commission must continue to insist on improvements, she stated.
The regulatory approach chosen by the U.S. is contrary to free trade in goods, concluded the head of the German association.
