U.S. Senator-elect Bernie Moreno of Ohio says he aims to become the Senate's "car czar" in the next Trump administration. Local time (December 4), Moreno said in an interview with the media that if he successfully holds this position,One of the first things he would do is eliminate the tax credit of up to $7,500 for buying or leasing electric vehicles.

"Ultimately, the $7,500 reward is catastrophically stupid."

With Trump's support, Moreno won the party primary and defeated Democratic incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown, helping the Republican Party gain control of the Senate.

Ohio is one of the major automobile manufacturing centers in the United States, and many large automobile manufacturers and suppliers have factories or branches in the state. Moreno also started his career in the automotive industry. In 2016, he owned more than ten dealerships. In 2019, he began to focus on blockchain technology companies.


Moreno, Trump, Vance

Some Democrats in Congress believe the U.S. should use tax credits as a defensive move to give the country's auto industry a competitive advantage. In this regard, Moreno believes that this position is "nonsense."

Moreno added that the U.S. government should not "tell companies what to do and how to strategize." He emphasizedWe should "let the market work" and "let the market decide what kind of car people should drive, and if it's electric, that's great."

Some people believe that removing tax credits for electric vehicles would be equivalent to giving up advantages in the competition for key technologies. Moreno countered that the U.S. could also be ahead of its rivals in gas-powered and hybrid vehicles.

Moreno emphasized that thisReflecting the "voice of consumers" does not mean giving up competitiveness.

"Consumers have never been clearer about what they want and what they don't want. Some people will think electric cars are great for them and they think you should go out and buy one...but a lot of other people don't want electric cars."

Although the market expects that sales of electric vehicles will continue to grow steadily in the next few years, the demand boom expected by many car company CEOs has not materialized. Ford executives have said that demand for electric vehicles is still growing, "but not nearly at the rate that we think it's likely to be in 2021, 2022."

Moreno also believes that electric vehiclesSubsidies cannot benefit all American consumers, and other measures can be taken to prevent unfair competition, "instead of giving $7,500 to people like Bill Gates to buy an electric car."

"We will let the market work," Moreno said. "We have to create an environment where car companies can have a good tax environment, a good regulatory environment and an excellent labor environment...let the market work and stop the government's crazy intervention in companies."

The electric vehicle industry is also the target of an investigation by the proposed department, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Last week, the Biden administration provided a $6.6 billion direct loan to electric vehicle maker Rivian, Tesla's main rival in the United States, to support its construction of a factory in Georgia.

Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the "double secretaries" of the Department of Government Efficiency, criticized the Biden administration's move on social media, saying, "This sounds more like a political attack on Elon Musk and Tesla."