Topline
Last week, Volkswagen-owned Audi said it is considering building a factory in the U.S., following in the footsteps of other car, battery, solar panel and computer chip manufacturers taking advantage of incentives provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS and Science Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to shore up production and create more than 65,000 jobs.
President Biden was on hand to emphasize a U.S technology company that will benefit from the passage … [+]
Key Facts
Ford announced on February 13, it will invest $3.5 billion to build a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery factory in Michigan, expecting to employ 2,500 people once the production for LFP batteries begins in 2026.
In January, Hanwha Qcells, a Korean solar panel manufacturer, announced plans to spend $2.5 billion to build a manufacturing plant in Georgia, producing components for its solar panels, looking to break ground at the plant in the first quarter of 2023 and providing 2,500 jobs to the clean-energy sector by 2024.
Battery manufacturer, Redwood Materials—started by Tesla co-founder J. B. Straubel—revealed plans in December to spend $3.5 billion to build a 600-acre facility meant to manufacture crucial materials for EV batteries in Charleston, South Carolina, bringing in 1,500 jobs, and was recently awarded a $2 billion dollar loan from the Department of Energy.
Taiwan’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturer, TSMC, has started construction on a chip plant in Phoenix, Arizona, following a $40 billion dollar investment in two plants in the U.S., securing at least 4,500 jobs within its own facilities.
Micron, a U.S. chip manufacturer, plans to invest billions in New York to build a facility by 2030, promising to bring the state nearly 50,000 jobs, including 9,000 jobs at Micron.
Last January, General Motors stated it would invest $7 billion in Michigan to build a battery plant and reinvest in existing car plants to begin production of EV vehicles by 2024, hoping to create 4,000 new jobs while retaining 1,000 existing ones.
Big Number
Industrial equipment has seen investment go from $247 billion in 2020 to $319.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, meanwhile manufacturing rose from $71.5 billion in 2020 to $105.9 billion at the end of 2022, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Key Background
Manufacturers are relying on the incentives the Biden Administration was able to attach to various bills it passed last year. The CHIPS act provided $52.7 billion in subsidies for American semiconductor companies for research and development, manufacturing and workforce development. The IRA bill provides a $7,500 tax credit to consumers who purchase an electric vehicle, and has production tax credits for clean energy such as solar, wind and electric batteries.
Crucial Quote
“There is growth and expansion and certainly there should be an expectation that this will get stronger over the next couple of years as the incentives kick in, as we go from announcement of plans to steel in the ground and new production equipment under the roof,” Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations told The Washington Post.
Further Readings
Ford To Build $3.5 Billion Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Plant In Michigan Using CATL Technology (Forbes)
Redwood Wins $2 Billion Federal Loan To Scale Up Production Of Battery Materials For Electric Cars (Forbes)
The Cost Of Battery Production Tax Credits Provided In The IRA (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonytellez/2023/02/28/here-are-major-companies-taking-advantage-of-bidens-green-tax-initiatives-and-creating-more-than-65000-jobs/