Biden Vetoes EV Chargers Bill

 

President Biden announced last week his decision to veto and return to Congress a resolution (SJRes 38) to eliminate the domestic manufacturing standards for electric vehicle chargers under Buy America rules.

In his veto message, the President said the resolution would weaken Buy American requirements by reverting to the Federal Highway Administration's general waiver for manufactured products.

This would allow Federal dollars – including $7.5 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – to be spent on chargers made in competitor nations like China, the President said.

“Additionally, if enacted, this resolution would undermine the hundreds of millions of dollars that the private sector has already invested in domestic EV charging manufacturing, and chill further domestic investment in this critical market,” he warned.

Undermines Buy America

The measure also would undermine the Administration’s efforts to ensure that the national network of EV chargers, being funded with Federal dollars, must be manufactured in the United States.

 

President Biden noted that last year his Administration issued a new policy for EV chargers that restores Buy America protections that are consistent with the Build America, Buy America Act standards included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. “This policy immediately required that EV chargers purchased through FHWA grants be manufactured in the United States and that EV charger housing comprised of iron and steel must use iron and steel produced in the United States,” the President said.

It also would harm the Administration’s efforts to encourage investment in critical industries and bring high-quality jobs back to the United States. “Establishing resilient supply chains is critical to our national economic and energy security, and my Administration will not support policies that would undermine efforts to bring this critical manufacturing back to the United States,” the President said.