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FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a Toyota logo at the Tokyo Motor Show, in Tokyo, Japan, October 24, 2019. REUTERS / Edgar Su / File Photo
September 12, 2021
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co on Saturday strongly slammed a proposal by Democrats in the United States House of Representatives to give electric vehicles made by unions in the United States an additional 4,500 tax incentive $.
Toyota said in a statement that the plan unveiled Friday night discriminates “against American auto workers because of their choice not to unionize.”
The bill, due to be voted on Tuesday by the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee as part of a $ 3.5 trillion spending bill, would benefit Detroit’s Big Three automakers , which have auto factories represented by unions.
In a statement, Honda called the bill “unfair” and said it “discriminates against electric vehicles made by hard-working American auto workers simply on the basis of their union membership. … The Honda production associates in Alabama, Indiana and Ohio who will build our electric vehicles deserve fair and equal treatment from Congress.
The proposal, estimated at $ 33 billion to $ 34 billion over 10 years, would increase the maximum tax credit for electric vehicles to $ 12,500 from the current $ 7,500. The figure of $ 12,500 includes a credit of $ 500 for the use of batteries produced in the United States.
The proposal is a key part of Democratic President Joe Biden’s goal of ensuring that electric vehicles account for at least 50% of vehicle sales in the United States by 2030 and to boost American union jobs.
The bill, however, phased out auto manufacturer tax credits after they hit 200,000 electric vehicles sold, which would again make General Motors Co and Tesla Inc eligible. It would also create a new, smaller credit for used electric vehicles of up to $ 2,500.
GM, Ford Motor Co and Stellantis NV, the parent company of Chrysler, assemble their vehicles made in the United States at factories represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
In contrast, foreign automakers operating in the United States as well as Tesla do not have unions representing assembly workers, and many of them have fought the UAW’s efforts to organize American factories.
Tesla would be eligible for credits of up to $ 8,000 under the bill.
UAW President Ray Curry said the tax credit provision “would go a long way to supporting the well-paying union jobs in (the) electric vehicle auto industry that President Biden has championed.”
The bill limits EV credit to cars priced as low as $ 55,000, while trucks can cost up to $ 74,000.
Toyota added that it “will fight to focus taxpayer dollars on making all electrified vehicles available to American consumers who cannot afford expensive cars and trucks.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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