Elon Musk, the executive president of Tesla, said on Monday that Congress should not pass the government’s bill. Joe Biden to increase subsidies to electric vehicles (VE) because the proposal would worsen the budget deficit of USA.
The billionaire businessman is stepping up criticism of the government and Democrats for a proposal to give electric vehicles made in the United States at union plants an additional $ 4,500 tax incentive.
Tesla and foreign automakers do not have unions at their factories in the United States.
“Honestly, it would be better if the bill didn’t pass,” Musk said at the Summit of the Council of General Directors of the WSJ.
“I am literally saying that all subsidies be eliminated,” he said, adding that the government should “step aside and not impede progress.”
Tesla has benefited from a number of government grants and programs.
Since 2019, Tesla has generated more than $ 3 billion in revenue from the sale of regulatory credits to other automakers that do not meet government emissions standards. The increased revenue helped Tesla start making annual profits last year.
The company acquired its assembly plant in Fremont, California, when the government restructured General Motors. Tesla also received a low-cost loan of $ 465 million from the Department of Energy, which he returned early.
Tesla also benefited from a federal tax credit of $ 7,500 per vehicle. The credit was applied in full to the first 200,000 Teslas sold and then phased out.
In his comments Monday, Musk also reiterated his opposition to the Democrats’ proposal to tax billionaires.
It does not make sense to deprive people who have shown great skill (…) from the work of allocating capital (…) and give it to, you know, an entity that has demonstrated a very poor skill in allocating capital, which is the Government. “
