Hildegard Müller, President of the Automotive Industry Association (VDA) from the German Press Agency, said: The discriminatory regulatory approach chosen by the USA contradicts the open trade of goods.
The dispute between Brussels and Washington is over a US law that provides billions of dollars in investments in climate protection and social issues. From a European perspective, the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) puts EU companies at a disadvantage compared to their US competitors.
Subsidies and tax credits are linked, among other things, to the fact that companies use or manufacture US products. The EU is pushing for exceptions like those in Canada and Mexico.
At the end of last year, the EU Commission announced the release of new guidelines confirming that European companies can also benefit partially. Specifically, certain tax credits for commercial vehicles may also benefit European companies. For example, EU companies can rent electric cars to American citizens.
VDA stressed that this possibility would be generally welcomed. “From an auto industry perspective, however, it represents only the first necessary step to change thinking about the IRA,” Müller said. For example, only some of the vehicles released by European manufacturers in the USA are registered. “Also, rentals in the US are apparently not very popular with customers.”
(SDA)