U.S. Sen.-elect Bernie Moreno (R-OH) recently outlined the objectives focused on the auto industry he will work on with President-elect Donald and his administration to enact in the coming years.
Among the subjects discussed in a recently published interview in the Detroit Free Press were the electric vehicle market, fuel economy standards, repealing parts of the Inflation Reduction Act and a combination of tariffs and tax breaks to encourage automakers to build more cars in the U.S.
Moreno, the first car dealer ever elected to the U.S. Senate who was backed by more than 1,000 auto dealers in defeating Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), said he and Trump “are on the same page” when it comes to their agenda for automobile industry and if enacted “it’ll be the golden age of manufacturing in America with Ohio and Michigan leading the way.”
Following Automotive Marketplace
Moreno criticized automakers for pushing EVs to meet what he sees as unrealistic government fuel economy standards. He sees that resulting in higher prices for gasoline vehicles so companies can offset the billions they are losing by producing EVs “money that has been wasted and lost in this …move to electric vehicles is just absolutely insane.”
“Anybody who even has a (basic) understanding of how the automobile industry works in America would tell you that the secret sauce is the marketplace,” Moreno said. “But for the first time in automotive history, car companies decided, ‘We’re not going to pay attention to our customers. We’re going to pay attention to our political leaders and make cars people don’t want’.”
A native of Colombia, Moreno worked from 1987 to 1993 with then-GM brand Saturn before crossing over to retail. At his height, he oversaw 15 dealerships representing 30 brands across Ohio, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Florida before he sold all of his car dealerships in 2020.
“American Automotive Renaissance”
Moreno stressed that President-elect Trump shares the same vision for overhauling the American auto industry that is focused on creating more jobs, making new vehicles more affordable, rolling back environmental regulations that coincide with President Joe Biden’s EV push and raising tariffs on cars built outside the U.S. as well as automakers to shift all manufacturing to the United States.
“We’re going to have an…American automotive renaissance in this country unlike anything you’ve seen,” Moreno said. “The minute that China thinks they can come here with their cheap, fully electric garbage cars … they’re sadly mistaken. These cars will come in here with dramatically high tariffs that will make those cars unsellable. We’re not going to be suckers anymore. We’re going to protect American workers and American jobs.”
During his campaign, Trump has said he would impose a 10 to 20 percent tariff on goods coming into a country, going as high as 60 to 100 percent for goods from China.
Moreno offered that there could be exemptions made auto parts can’t be made in the U.S., but criticized Lincoln’s decision to make cars in China as “a bad decision…They’re going to find that it’s a very bad decision. They should be making those cars here.”
Tax Code Revamp
One of his legislative priorities will be revamping a new tax code that rewards American companies.
“I’ll give you an example, if you’re an American company that employs American workers, maybe you can write off whatever you pay in salaries twice,” Moreno said. “So if you pay $10 million in salary and wages, you get an additional $10 million tax write-off. That encourages companies to pay their employees more money.”
To that end, the Senator-elect took aim at Stellantis and their leadership when it comes to manufacturing and its effect on the U.S. work force.
“Stellantis, which the United States government handed Chrysler Corp. for free in essence, are laying off workers and shipping our jobs to Mexico,” he said. “CEO Carlos Tavares needs to understand the United States government is not going to allow him to gut Chrysler, and Jeep, and Dodge, and Ram, and ship those cars and the direction overseas, in managing a company that was handed to them for free, which never should have been done.”
Rolling Back Biden Initiatives
As for federal policies that he sees as a detriment to the auto industry and the economy, Moreno is focused on the tightened fuel-economy standards for new vehicles sold in the U.S. to meet a fleet average about 38 mpg by 2031, up from about 29 mpg and the Environmental Protection Agency adoption of stricter tailpipe-emissions rules put forward under the Biden administration.
Moreno sees the federal government requirements as the driving force behind the focus on EVs by automakers and believers the industry should follow the Toyota model that concentrated on hybrids rather than all-electric.
“The problem with GM, Ford and Stellantis is that they made the decision to pacify the Biden-Harris administration and not call them out for the ridiculousness of their electric vehicle policies,” Moreno said. “Toyota, in listening to their car dealers, planned to have the cars that consumers wanted. So the big winner now is Toyota because they don’t have to pivot.”
End of EV Tax Credits
Moreno suggests Detroit auto leadership need to revisit their strategies because tax credit tied to EVs will probably not be as robust with the incoming administration.
“The United States government—if I have anything to do with it, I’m one of 100 people and President Trump obviously makes a decision on this as well—but my suspicion is that electric vehicle subsidies are gone,” he said. “So now there’s no subsidy. You buy an electric vehicle, the car stands on its own.”
The former cars salesman sees lowering the regulatory environment in connection to the federal reserve continuing to lower interest rates will result in new-vehicles being more affordable.
“We need to repeal the part of the infrastructure law that requires all 2026 model-year vehicles to have an alcohol-impairment device each time the car starts,” Moreno said. “The reason is very simple: Those of us, like myself, who do not drink alcohol, why am I paying for a device to check my impairment? It adds cost.”
Praise for Elon
Moreno voiced his support on the rising influence of Tesla CEO Elon Musk with his appointment to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency to cut the federal budget by a third.
“We could take $2 trillion a year in savings out of the federal government, there’s no question in my mind about that,” Moreno said of Musk. “We can’t afford the government we have right now.”
