https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/
Canada is keen on accessing a pot of money for critical minerals in soon-to-be-signed U.S. law
A historic climate bill just passed by the U.S. Congress could have implications in entrenching Canada’s role in the shift toward clean transportation. The legislation that passed last week established preferential tax treatment for electric vehicles assembled anywhere in North America.
That made-in-North-America approach generated some news headlines by bringing an amicable resolution to a months-long Canada-U.S. irritant. Less noticed in the bill was a pot of money containing hundreds of millions of dollars to jump-start a new domestic industry in components for electric-vehicle batteries.
The ripple-effects could eventually be felt across the border, up into remote Canadian mining communities. At issue is growing U.S. concern about becoming dependent on its great geopolitical rival, China, for the critical minerals powering future vehicles.
President Joe Biden invoked the U.S. Defense Production Act earlier this year allowing him to fund projects that would lessen dependence on U.S. rivals. He’s now getting the funds to do it: $500 million US set aside in this incoming law, after another $600 million was tucked into a recent Ukraine assistance bill, atop an older multibillion-dollar loans program.
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