Manchin Says He Didn’t Know US, EU Lacked Free Trade Agreement

(Bloomberg) -- Senator Joe Manchin said Thursday he didn’t realize the US and the European Union do not have a free trade agreement when he wrote stringent new requirements for the electric vehicle tax credit that the EU says will unfairly disadvantage its members.

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“I did not realize the EU is not a free trade agreement” nation, Manchin said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s David Westin in Davos, Switzerland.

Democrats’ $374 billion Inflation Reduction Act enacted over the summer includes new limits on who was eligible for a lucrative $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. Among the limits was a requirement that critical minerals used in batteries be from countries that have a trade agreement with the US or are recycled in North America to get the full value of the credit.

Read: US Trade Chief Working With EU to Address EV Subsidy Concerns

The Treasury Department has said it will adopt a broad definition of which countries have a free trade agreement with the US, and Manchin, in his interview, said he was open to tweaks as well.

“I told them. I said, ‘We’re not trying to harm you. We’re trying to get a dependable, reliable source” for EV materials, Manchin said. “Now, can we make some adjustments? I’m happy to sit down with them.”

--With assistance from David Westin and Steven T. Dennis.

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