Critical Minerals Key Topic at G-7 Meeting; Biden Cuts Trip Short for Debt Limit Negotiations
The discriminatory nature of the Clean Vehicle Tax Credit (CVTC) remains a sore spot for the Europeans, and cooperation on critical minerals as a way to counter China’s influence has already been a topic of discussion on the first day of the G-7 meeting in Japan. The U.S. and E.U. are at odds over a mini trade deal that would allow European minerals to qualify under the battery restrictions of the CVTC, it was reported this week. The E.U. would prefer an agreement similar to the one the U.S. negotiated with Japan recently, but the Biden Administration has received bipartisan criticism for circumventing congressional approval through limited trade agreements that do not open market access. Escalating the rift, last week French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would create its own protectionist green car subsidy in response to the CVTC. The next meeting of the joint U.S./E.U. Trade and Technology Council is scheduled for later this month.
Debt Limit
President Joe Biden will cut short his international trip this week in the hopes of reaching a deal on raising the debt limit. Some progress is believed to have been made earlier this week when the president and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) agreed to negotiate directly with one another. The urgency is expected to grow as there are just a handful of days left that Congress will be in session before the nation could run out of cash to cover its debts.
Quote of the Week
“This clean-tech race is an opportunity to go faster and further, together … Our competition should create additional manufacturing capacity and not come at each other’s expense.”
-Ursula von der Leyen, President, European Commission (Politico)
ICYMI
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Friday Feel Good
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As part of the Subaru Share the Love event, Ken Ganley Automotive donated $150,000 to the Cleveland Clinic Colorectal Cancer Center and, this past December, Yark Subaru donated a portion of every vehicle sale to Humane Ohio and Hospice of Northwest Ohio.
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