Preserving these five targeted, strategic credits are critical to safeguarding U.S. national and economic security, bolstering domestic industrial capacity, and reducing dependence on foreign adversaries—especially the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Some of these credits support the development of diverse and reliable power sources, and others support commercial activities necessary for downstream domestic mineral demand to ensure that new mineral resources are free of adversarial control and are leveraged for our domestic manufacturing resurgence. The reconciliation package recently passed by the House contains provisions that would repeal several of these credits, and for others it would impose restrictions that impair the utility of the credits for some of America’s most strategic and vital industries.
As a non-partisan group, we acknowledge the need to reduce spending and address the crisis posed by the national debt—but it is counterproductive to try to strengthen our economy by taking actions that directly erode its foundations. Repealing or weakening these provisions would not only stall the growth of critical industries—it would leave the United States vulnerable to supply chain manipulation by hostile regimes and further delay efforts to rebuild the nation’s defense industrial base. At a time when the United States faces unprecedented global competition and strategic uncertainty, this is a risk we cannot afford.
Section 45X, The Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit, enables U.S. producers of critical minerals, battery components, and other advanced energy technologies to overcome China’s state-subsidized cost advantages and market manipulation. Domestic firms face electricity, chemical inputs, environmental compliance, and labor costs many times higher than their Chinese competitors. The Section 45X credit plays a role in offsetting this differential and has incentivized vital private investment to reduce reliance on CCP-controlled sources for materials essential to modern defense platforms, energy technologies, and electric vehicles.
Section 30D, The New Clean Vehicle Credit, is essential to complement the administration’s critical minerals agenda by generating robust domestic demand for secure mineral and battery supply chains. Defense industry demand alone is insufficient to drive the investment and production volumes necessary for resilient supply chains, representing less than 10% of domestic demand for critical minerals. A thriving commercial sector—which also guarantees American economic leadership in the next generation of technologies—is needed to continue driving final investment decisions in key projects. Section 30D has driven unprecedented private investment in domestic and allied mineral supply chains by incentivizing consumer demand for battery materials and components sourced from the United States and allied nations, while disqualifying batteries and critical minerals from FEOCs, particularly those linked to China. The automotive industry is the nation’s largest manufacturing sector, and without Section 30D’s sourcing rules and the demand signal that comes with it, investment in U.S. mineral processing and manufacturing becomes uneconomical—undermining national reindustrialization, competitiveness, and defense preparedness.
Section 48C, The Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit, is essential to overcoming one of the largest barriers to domestic critical mineral processing and advanced manufacturing: capital costs that are two to three times higher in the United States compared to China. Section 48C provides upfront investment support that is crucial for building new facilities and scaling U.S. refining and component manufacturing capacity. At present, between 60 and 100 percent of critical materials, depending on the material, are currently refined or processed in China. U.S. producers are currently faced with a range of anticompetitive market manipulation tactics by Chinese entities that benefit from generous state subsidies, low-cost financing, and vertically integrated supply chains engineered to undercut U.S. and allied manufacturers.
Sections 48E and 45Y, The Clean Electricity Investment and Production Tax Credits, are foundational to accelerating grid modernization and scaling up resilient, domestic energy generation. As electricity demand surges across sectors such as manufacturing, data centers, and industrial growth, these technology-neutral, performance-based incentives provide critical certainty to investors and developers. By supporting a wide range of energy sources—including advanced nuclear, geothermal, hydrogen, and next-generation renewables—these credits foster innovation while prioritizing reliability and cost-effectiveness. Both provisions also incentivize domestic content, strengthening U.S. supply chains and reducing dependence on foreign components at a time of rising cyber and physical threats. Without Sections 48E and 45Y, the United States risks falling behind in meeting future electricity needs, delaying vital infrastructure that supports economic competitiveness, national security, and regional industrial development.
