U.K. Think Tank Warns Government Not To Get Into E.V. 'Subsidy Race'
Rather, Downing Street should prioritize "stability in government policy," cautions Policy Exchange's Geoffrey Owen.
The United Kingdom is courting an automaker to build a new factory within its borders, and it's willing to spare no expense to do so. In a new report, a British think tank suggests letting the market have a say.
Tata Motors, an Indian conglomerate that owns Jaguar Land Rover, plans to build an electric vehicle (E.V.) battery cell factory somewhere in Europe. Reuters reported in February that the company was deciding between Spain and Great Britain. At that time, the company leaned toward Spain, partly on the basis that the country was spending billions of euros in European Union pandemic relief funds to attract developments by E.V. manufacturers.
Last month, the BBC reported that Tata had since tilted toward the U.K. as the country offered up generous incentives of its own. In "the form of cash grants, energy subsidies and other training and research funding," plus extra cash to "subsidise, upgrade, and decarbonise" Tata's existing steel industry, the British government's largesse is expected to "bring the total incentive package to Tata close to £800m" or $994 million USD.
The U.K. is desperate to build out its own E.V. supply chain: It produces relatively few electric vehicles and components compared to neighboring countries, and in a post-Brexit world, it faces 10-percent tariffs on any batteries it ships to E.U. nations. In a March report, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the U.K. automotive industry's trade association, warned that "Britain's ability to compete as an electric vehicle (EV) production leader is at risk unless government responds urgently to increasingly fierce international competition." Darren Jones, chair of the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, told Bloomberg, "We have no capacity for battery manufacturing, which is essentially the entire future of car production."
Part of the pressure comes from the United States. The Inflation Reduction Act established tax credits for purchasing E.V.s but required that a certain percent of the vehicles be built domestically from parts sourced in North America. That bit of protectionism, intended to exclude China, also left out the European Union. French President Emmanuel Macron complained in October 2022, "We need a Buy European Act like the Americans, we need to reserve [our subsidies] for our European manufacturers."
In a report last week, the conservative U.K. think tank Policy Exchange had a plain message for the government: Let the market decide.
Geoffrey Owen, Policy Exchange's head of industrial policy, wrote in the report that "virtually the whole of the industry is foreign owned" and "run by multinational companies" that "are not necessarily committed to the UK." Multiple prime ministers over the past 15 years introduced and implemented government programs designed to shore up the country's E.V. industry. But there was little lasting effect, at least in terms of new factory investment.
"The UK should not engage in a subsidy race with the EU and the US," Owen cautioned. Instead, he recommends a lighter approach: "Where there are obstacles which discourage investment, such as high energy costs, the government should seek to remove or mitigate them." More important than targeted subsidies, he argued, is "a greater degree of stability in government policy."
The U.S. should take the same advice. States continue to shell out billions of dollars each year to attract investment, with little to show in return. And yet, research shows that while government incentives do contribute to a company's decision on where to put a new development, they're often not the primary motivating factor. As Owen noted about investment by Asian automakers in countries like Germany, "the principal reason why they went to the EU and not the UK was not the size of the subsidy but the size of the market. Germany had a far bigger auto industry than the UK and was the home to three of the largest European manufacturers – Volkswagen, Daimler Benz and BMW."
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If we really wanted to set ourselves apart, we’d invest more in LNG vehicles.
What are Britain’s natural gas reserves like?
Who cares? We can’t even have gas stoves anymore.
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“UK Think Tank Immediately Ignored”
Last month, the BBC reported that Tata had since tilted toward the U.K. as the country offered up generous incentives of its own.
“Also, the irony of us outsourcing manufacturing to England is pretty fucking sweet”, a senior development VP was overheard saying. “Owning iconic British brands like Jaguar and Land Rover was pretty good already, but this is absolute icing on the cake.”
“India to colonize Great Britain”
Maybe they’ll make Britain more multicultural by introducing bride burning.
And a caste system! Cool.
All cultures are equal you know.
Castes would introduce a Brave New World, really. If everyone has a place, they cannot be unhappy. The deltas and epsilons in the mines would be happy with other epsilons, knowing they could never become a beta or alpha.
The cultures on the sub continent were just forward thinking!
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French President Emmanuel Macron complained in October 2022, “We need a Buy European Act like the Americans, we need to reserve [our subsidies] for our European manufacturers.”
Translation: “It’s not fair that the American government is fucking over it’s people by engaging in trade wars and protectionism. We need to do it too!”
Oh, by the way, where are the Trump supporters who defended tariffs and subsidies for four years while he was president? You know, the ones who said Reason and libertarians had TDS for opposing trade wars and protectionism. If they had any principles at all they’d be praising Biden for continuing and expanding Trump’s trade policies.
Oh, by the way, where are the Trump supporters who defended tariffs and subsidies for four years while he was president?
You know the answer. They are too busy sniffing around Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Which subsidies are you two morons referring to?
I can point to your support of trans surgeries under Medicare and insurance plans. Or your support for funding liberal NGOs for numerous liberal desires.
How many 65 year olds are having trans surgeries paid for by Medicare? And if it is private insurance that is their business not yours.
Lol. Nice non sequitur. The average estimated costs by trans advocates is each transition will cost 1.5M in lifetime costs. This is now paid for by medicaid and insurance plans.
Please continue.
Are you the new resident Act Blue moron?
We need a Buy European Act like the Americans,
Sleepy Joe = more US energy independence, domestic manufacturing boom, higher GDP, record employment is the real badass MAGA bastard the Trump-tards wanted.
You forgot ‘doubling of oil and gas drilling’. Yup that happened on Biden’s watch too.
No wonder gas is over $4 now.
Dum dum doesn’t remember how much gas cost when Trump was in office does he?
Well, remember that turd lies.
Do you guys get list of approved lies to spread? Lol.
Please provide your evidence. Difficulty, use 2019 open economy baseline.
Here is mine. Scroll down to production dumdum.
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/
They all have a copy of “How to lie with statistics.”
But it isnt true even if you start from the 2020 low. It is just a straight lie.
What’s the internet troll version of a logical fallacy called? The one where you cite statistics or post links expecting readers to be too fucking lazy to go to the trouble of actually clicking the link or reading the real data?
And the data you linked are kind of interesting in that they show that almost the entire fall in Coal usage over the last 15 years has been taken up by Natural Gas. Makes me wonder why gas has suddenly been demonized despite it being a cleaner burning alternative to coal… take it away from the households even though the electric you’re using to cook with on your shitty ass stove was mostly made using natural gas. Feels good, doesn’t do shit. Just like plastic bag bans, straw bans, and all the other progressive ideas being pushed in legislatures.
It may surprise you to learn this, but nobody expects Europeans to not subsidize anything. I say go for it.
Which subsidies were defended sarc?
I remember you being upset “your friend” wasn’t going to get the student loan bailout.
For sound economic perspective go to https://honesteconomics.substack.com/
U.K. Think Tank Warns Government Not To Get Into E.V. ‘Subsidy Race’
spoiler alert: they’re not gonna listen to you
Tata Motors, an Indian conglomerate that owns Jaguar Land Rover, plans to build an electric vehicle (E.V.) battery cell factory somewhere in Europe.
Proof your society is entering the third world: You’re begging India to open a factory in your country and outsource their jobs to you.
Consider: The British are only entertaining a company called “Tata Motors” for comedic effect.
“Yes, yes. The motors are completely quiet. But in the name of of pedestrian safety, we kindly request that they make a “Bbbbbbb” noise when in motion.”
Somehow I doubt this will lead to English food restaurants all over India.
Peace is not possible.
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1666146274821677056?t=GK8tWFtLrkqG3R6RkCcBzw&s=19
A FEDERAL JUDGE JUST RULED ‘GENDER IDENTITY IS REAL’ AND LAWS CANNOT BE PASSSED TO BAN TRANS SURGERY FOR CHILDREN
“Judge” is taking 7 figure bribes from Pharma. No other explanation.
https://twitter.com/DisgracedProp/status/1666152434107035648?t=sOmFIAZ8OQEbO_SPhDm5GA&s=19
Federal judges almost never speak this way, it’s like something Judge Judy would say in small claims court.
People who are winning or comfortable in their position also don’t talk this way. 1/5
[Quote]
SCOTUS Justice: I’m not a biologist.
Federal Judge: I’m a transpsychogender surgeon!
He has a history of political rulings for the left. Definition of job shopping.
MAGA people have made that a specialty.
What is sauce for the goose…
Shut up liar.
Cite?
Is this a new pod sock? Sarc? Latter because he is telling obvious lies following me around lol.
Is the MAGA in the room with you right now?
BUT PEOPLE WHO RESIST GOVERNMENT DEALS WITH CORPORATIONS ARE FASCISTS!!!
lol… +100000 Great example of..
The amazing projection abilities of the leftard fascists.
https://twitter.com/SusanCorke1/status/1666148650219601926?t=V2BoiPeXmqZA5REUQ_6hlg&s=19
Groups like Moms for Liberty are a new battlefront vs inclusivity in schools, but are rooted in age-old white supremacy. We designate them an extremist group in our new @splcenter annual hate & extremism report
[Link]
Skin color is the most important thing
For many idiots it is indeed.
Lol
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1666112740031623168?t=V_HfO8j6mrBsl3rBnKXbsg&s=19
Disney’s live-action remake has made only $3.6 million in mainland China since opening there on May 26, according to Box Office Mojo
bodacious tata motors.
https://twitter.com/CharlotteIvers/status/1665362488865480704?t=bjdf2a4pjjD2Wf6lyOz_rw&s=19
Column this week is about my desire to have a child, but only for two days a week. In my attempt to accommodate this, I think I’ve also fixed about 500 societal problems, but who can say.
[Link]
^Reminds me of the Remy joke where the guy living in a tent city, covered in Dorito dust says, “… and that’s how you should run a world economy!”
You don’t even have your personal shit together enough to take care of a kid more than two days a week *and* learn about the Catholic/Christian orphanages in Ireland, The Mormon Communes prior to The Mormon Wars, Hitler Youth, the Waco Siege, etc., etc., etc. but you’ve got everyone else’s problems figured out, eh? I’m sure you’ve thought far enough ahead to answer the question: Your parents, by your own standards, raised you wrong in their own household didn’t they?
Time for all of the EV hype to end and let the geeks and business folk figure out a solution without so much government meddling. While I plan to stick with my gasoline engine as long as possible, gaseous hydrogen at moderate pressure seems like a much better energy storage medium than electrons caught up in a matrix that rather quickly fades towards equilibrium.
The warning seems to have come over 2 years late.
But it’s just stupid enough for leftard politicians to support it.
[We] don’t care if you like [our] cars or not; our Gov-Guns will MAKE you buy them. Totalitarian governments for the WIN!!! /s
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