Biden is pressing for half of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030 through a combination of pollution rules and financial incentives. The"Big Three" automakers have embraced the transition, as has United Auto Workers, the union representing nearly 150,000 of their employees. But its embrace is conditional, and a strike that began on Sept. 15 is wrapped up in demands that union work be protected in the transition.
But Republicans see the conflict over EVs as a possible wedge with blue-collar voters worried about their job security. In battleground states like Michigan, home to tens of thousands of auto jobs, those anxieties could prove pivotal next year in deciding control of the White House. But the attack line has taken on a new wrinkle as public attitudes sour on China, a rising superpower that dominates both EV development and the market for rare earth metals used in EV batteries.
For now, China is largely boxed out of the U.S. market for EVs due in part to a hefty, Trump-era tariff on Chinese-made vehicles. Biden chose to keep that tariff in place upon assuming office and has generally pursued a protectionist strategy for EVs that favors American-made cars through tax breaks and subsidies.