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Can the American Battery Industry Survive Trump?
During the Biden administration, the battery industry was booming. Thanks to years of technological progress and the Inflation Reduction Act’s massive subsidies for clean energy, factories were going up all over the country, and grid-scale battery installation nearly quadrupled between 2021 and 2024. For a brief period in 2024, remarkably, American battery investment exceeded the habitually gargantuan Chinese level.
Now that future is in question. The domestic solar, wind, and EV industries got gored by Trump’s mega-bill, which will reduce demand for batteries. Now battery investment is stalling, thanks also to Trump’s madcap trade war. However, batteries got to keep their tax credit until 2034—apparently because they aren’t seen as woke, for some reason. And depending on how the Trump administration behaves, battery deployment might be able to at least tread water if not keep expanding, and in the process help keep the American solar industry from collapsing entirely.
The (sigh) One Big Beautiful Bill Act phased out the tax credit for solar, wind, and EVs this year. But the “45X” credit for batteries (named after the relevant section in U.S. law) won’t start phasing out until 2034—though the bill did include much stricter limits on components from “prohibited foreign entities.” What that means exactly will have to wait until the Treasury Department publishes guidance.
Now that future is in question. The domestic solar, wind, and EV industries got gored by Trump’s mega-bill, which will reduce demand for batteries. Now battery investment is stalling, thanks also to Trump’s madcap trade war. However, batteries got to keep their tax credit until 2034—apparently because they aren’t seen as woke, for some reason. And depending on how the Trump administration behaves, battery deployment might be able to at least tread water if not keep expanding, and in the process help keep the American solar industry from collapsing entirely.
The (sigh) One Big Beautiful Bill Act phased out the tax credit for solar, wind, and EVs this year. But the “45X” credit for batteries (named after the relevant section in U.S. law) won’t start phasing out until 2034—though the bill did include much stricter limits on components from “prohibited foreign entities.” What that means exactly will have to wait until the Treasury Department publishes guidance.
https://prospect.org/environment/2025-07-23-can-american-battery-industry-survive-trump/]