MW Trump invokes EVs in challenge to Biden for debate in Michigan
By Robert Schroeder
'I am happy to debate him,' Biden tells radio host Howard Stern
President Joe Biden on Friday said he'd debate Donald Trump this election cycle, prompting the former Oval Office occupant to propose a faceoff in auto-industry stronghold Michigan.
"I suggest Monday Evening, Tuesday Evening or Wednesday Evening at my Rally in Michigan, a State that he is in the process of destroying with his E.V. Mandate," Trump wrote in a social-media post.
Trump has previously attacked Biden over the current president's encouragement of electric vehicles, prompting Biden's campaign to push back that there is no mandate for Americans to buy EVs $(TSLA)$.
Now see: Trump attacks Biden over EVs as he makes pitch to auto workers
Trump said he'd debate Biden anywhere, not just in Michigan.
The statement from Biden came after his saying in March that participation in a debate with Trump "depends on his behavior."
Biden's encouragement of EVs, meanwhile, is not open-ended. As MarketWatch's Victor Reklaitis has reported, the president has made an effort to put the brakes on Chinese entries $(XPEV)$ (CN:002594) $(NIO)$ into the U.S. car market.
Biden's administration has been considering raising tariffs on Chinese EVs - which already would be subject to a total tariff of 27.5% should they be become available in the U.S. and which would not be eligible for a popular $7,500 EV tax credit.
Read: One thing Biden and Trump agree on: Keeping this $10,000 Chinese EV out of the U.S.
The latest average of polls from RealClearPolitics shows Trump leading Biden in Michigan by three points.
-Robert Schroeder
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 26, 2024 14:42 ET (18:42 GMT)
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