Make no mistake, the “made in America” mantra — a calling card for the commander-in-chief that has been sending chills up Canadian spines ever since he moved into the White House last January — was a fixture of the hour-long speech.“One way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight inflation — lower your costs, not your wages,” Biden said, an appeal to moderate Democrats who fear the risk of higher prices from government spending.
Foreign automakers, as well as non-unionized U.S. EV giant Tesla, were harsh critics of Biden’s original plan, one small component of an ill-fated $2-trillion suite of social spending and climate programs known as the Build Back Better bill.So too were moderate Democrat lawmakers like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, whose state is a major manufacturing sector for Toyota, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona, a southern border state with expansive ambitions in the EV sector.
Critics of the EV tax credits refused to declare victory, however, knowing the proposal was far from dead. Many maintained that posture Wednesday, acknowledging Biden’s framing as a step in the right direction, albeit a small one.The Big Shift: Is Canada ready for the EV revolution? – May 15, 2021 Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, speaking before Wednesday’s weekly caucus meeting, reacted to Biden’s Buy American language by striking a similar tone — a signal, perhaps, of how serious global challenges could be informing a pragmatic new approach to Canada-U.S. relations.