Washington, D.C. — The investment plan outlined in President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda would help to revitalize domestic manufacturing and ensure that clean energy supply chains are not dependent on China, according to a new column from the Center for American Progress.
The column argues that until now, the United States has failed to focus on both tackling climate change and building a domestic manufacturing base for global clean technology supply chains. This failure has allowed China to gain market dominance in building these supply chains in areas such as solar components and wind turbine component manufacturing.
“The Build Back Better agenda would make the kind of investments in domestic industry that are needed to curb our dependence on clean energy supply chains in China,” said Mike Williams, a senior fellow at CAP and co-author of the column.
The president’s proposals, awaiting action in the Senate, call for manufacturing investments and incentives that form the basis of a coherent industrial policy. Key elements include:
- Any clean electricity project that uses domestically produced iron, steel, and “manufactured products” would receive a bonus tax credit worth an additional 10 percent of total project costs.
- Clean energy project developers could access tax credits directly without having to depend on Wall Street for costly tax equity financing, so long as the projects are built with American made goods.
- There is a long-term extension and expansion of tax credits for electric vehicles that would increase based on the impact to domestic manufacturing.
- Direct investments and incentives for core manufacturing industries and critical components of the clean technology supply chains.
Read the column: “Build Back American: Revitalizing Domestic Manufacturing and Reducing U.S. Dependence on China” by Mike Williams and Laura Edwards
For more information, or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].