The administration of US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that $1.7 billion in grants will be given to assist resuscitate or expand auto plants for producing electric vehicles and parts, including those in Georgia and Michigan, two states that are major election battlegrounds.
The money will be used to renovate eleven closed or vulnerable sites across eight states, including Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and another hotbed of conflict.
Officials stated that the investment, which is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, will save 15,000 employment and help them refit to produce EVs.
“This investment will create thousands of good-paying, union manufacturing jobs and retain even more — from Lansing, Michigan to Fort Valley, Georgia — by helping auto companies retool, reboot, and rehire in the same factories and communities,” said Biden in a statement.
The declaration is made as 81-year-old Biden fights calls to withdraw from his reelection campaign following his appalling debate performance against Republican Donald Trump last month.
Additionally, it represents the most recent initiative by the Biden administration to defend US industry from Chinese competition.
In recent months, US officials have issued warnings that surplus manufacturing capacity in the second-biggest economy in the world might flood the market with inexpensive items, potentially harming emerging renewable energy sectors worldwide.
Washington also announced sharp tariff hikes on Chinese imports earlier this year, including on EVs.
“There is nothing harder to a manufacturing community than to lose jobs to foreign competition and a changing industry,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.
She noted that the grants will help to “ensure that our automotive industry stays competitive,” saying that the sector needs a federal partner when competing with other countries who subsidize their auto industries.
Beneficiaries include automakers like General Motors, Fiat-Chrysler and Volvo.
