Andy Howlett was quoted on the U.S. Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) plans to issue guidance that could impact U.S.-China collaborations on electric vehicles (EV), and specifically the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which allows buyers of EVs to claim up to $7,500 in tax credits. These credits will become unavailabe in the coming years whenever an electric car's battery parts are supplied by companies considered a "foreign entity of concern." According to Howlett, "The question is, what kind of interpretation are they [Treasury] going to make?" The provision may be interpreted as excluding a wide range of corporations with a Chinese footprint – or Treasury may want to pursue a far narrower definition, such as applying it only to companies directly owned by the Chinese state. Treasury could conclude that Congress created the EV tax credits "to incentivize the use of electric vehicles," Howlett said. "If they want to run with that, they could just say, 'We're going to interpret every provision in a manner that gets as many electric vehicles on the road as possible.'"