Marco Rubio leads effort to block Biden move protecting Chinese EV companies

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FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is introducing a bill Wednesday which would block the Biden administration's rule earlier this year easing "Buy America" electric vehicle (EV) charger requirements.

Rubio's joint resolution would overturn the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Waiver of Buy America Requirements for Electric Vehicle Chargers which was finalized in February and went into effect a month later. Rubio, the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, argued the waiver would ultimately benefit Chinese manufacturers who dominate the EV charger supply chain.

"Waiving the Buy America requirements on EV chargers won’t help American taxpayers or workers. It hurts American companies and empowers foreign adversaries, like China, to control our energy infrastructure," Rubio said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.

"We should never use American dollars to subsidize Chinese-made products," he continued.

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Sen. Marco Rubio's, R-Fla., joint resolution would block the Biden administration's waiver easing domestic sourcing requirements for electric vehicle charger manufacturing. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/AP)

On Feb. 21, the DOT's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) unveiled its final Made in America EV charger waiver rule which axed more stringent requirements and pushed certain deadlines back months in a major victory for industry groups and EV proponents. The waiver highlights manufacturing and assembly requirements for EV charging companies to be eligible for millions of dollars in federal subsidies.

The waiver rules revised a stricter proposal put forth by FHWA in August 2022. The four-phase proposed waiver would have immediately scrapped all requirements; then required EV charger companies to assemble all products in the U.S. beginning Jan. 1, 2023; manufacture chargers with no less than 25% American-made components by cost beginning July 1, 2023; and manufacture chargers with no less than 55% American-made components by cost beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

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The finalized waiver knocked it down to a two-phase process and pushed key deadlines. It requires EV charger companies to ensure final assembly of chargers is in the U.S. and that the cost of American-made components in chargers represents 55% of total product costs beginning on July 1, 2024. The waiver notably scrapped the 25% domestic component requirement.

"This historic undertaking will spur economic growth powered by American workers who will deliver on President Biden’s goals for America to lead the world in EV manufacturing and adoption," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in February after the finalized waiver was announced.

"This is a major step toward a world where every EV user will be able to find safe, reliable charging stations anywhere in the country," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg added.

President Biden previously set a goal of ensuring 50% of car purchases are electric by 2030. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool/Getty Images | Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

FHWA's waiver was finalized amid a major push from the Biden administration to both expand EV manufacturing and the network of chargers nationwide needed to fuel zero-emissions vehicles. President Biden has set goals of constructing a EV charging network of 500,000 chargers along U.S. highways and ensuring 50% of all new car sales are electric by 2030.

The massive infrastructure package passed in 2021 earmarks $7.5 billion for EV charging programs while the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act expands tax credits for EVs and charger installations.

Additionally, in late March, the Treasury Department proposed rules for EV subsidy eligibility under the Inflation Reduction Act. However, the agency declined to outline implementation of the bill's requirements surrounding EVs assembled with battery components or critical minerals sourced from a "foreign entity of concern."

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And the Biden administration has faced criticism for not cracking down on Chinese companies apparent moves to guarantee access to Inflation Reduction Act subsidies.

"It is horrific that the Administration continues to ignore the purpose of the law which is to bring manufacturing back to America and ensure we have reliable and secure supply chains," Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said in a statement on March 31. "American tax dollars should not be used to support manufacturing jobs overseas." 

Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., joined Rubio in introducing the joint resolution on Wednesday.