A new study suggests that Donald Trump’s possible rollback of clean energy measures, which could dampen incentives for U.S. solar and battery manufacturing, could cost the domestic economy billions of dollars but would bring benefits to countries including India. Come to new market opportunities.
Investments from the outgoing Joe Biden administration, including the CHIPS Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), have brought more than $200 billion in clean energy to the United States Energy investment. These measures are also critical to repositioning the country within the global clean energy supply chain and strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities.
According to a report from Johns Hopkins University’s Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab, Trump’s proposed rollback of these initiatives could cost the United States billions of dollars in lost factories, jobs, tax revenue, and up to $50 billion in losses. Export losses.
The report further points out that if domestic manufacturing declines, countries with mature clean technology manufacturing capabilities can take full advantage of U.S. market demand. This could open up a new supply chain market worth $80 billion for international competitors such as India, China, Japan and South Korea.
The report highlights that India will benefit from potential policy shifts in the United States in areas such as electric vehicles, solar and wind energy. Another rival, China, is also expected to benefit, particularly in these industries and battery production.
“This will severely harm the United States’ ability to develop and scale next-generation technologies, effectively hampering the United States’ best hope of competing with China. Without these investments and tax credits, U.S. industry will flounder as it develops, losing markets to Give it to other countries.
More than 45% of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) investment in the United States has come from foreign companies, highlighting global interdependence in clean energy supply chains.
Reports say that at home, completely abolishing the IRA could pose a political challenge to Trump because there is bipartisan support for clean energy investment, even among Republicans because of the large investments in their districts.
If a pushback does occur, however, the U.S. could fall behind in the race for cleantech leadership, potentially repeating a history of U.S. cleantech companies facing bankruptcy due to market uncertainty and fierce competition from Chinese companies.
Researchers Bentley Allan and Tim Sahay emphasize that U.S. leadership in clean technologies is critical not only to domestic growth but also to maintaining a competitive advantage in global markets. The report further states that policy retreat could have profound negative consequences for the health of the U.S. economy and technological progress.
