>> download c-span's new mobile app and stay up to date with live video coverage of the day's political events with live streams from the house and senate floor and key congressional hearings, to white house events and supreme court oral arguments. even our live interactive morning program "washington journal" where we h hear your voice every day. c-span has you covered. download the app for free today. d international, after show. particularly for those manufactured international, that's where the next guest's focus is, jennifer of the group

autos drive america. she serves as president and ceo. thanks for joining us. jennifer: thanks for having me. pedro: how do you describe your organization to other people? jennifer: yes, and for that question, because we are relatively new organization. we were founded in 2020. we are a trade association that represents international automakers who have operations throughout the united states. we really focus on and our goal is to make sure that there is growth and success of the u.s. out of industry. in order to do that, we want to make sure there is access to global markets in a vibrant manufacturing platform. we advocate with lawmakers at all levels of government to ensure that their policies promote more jobs, trade and investment here in the u.s., and really for a level playing field

for all automakers in the u.s. pedro: to that end, as far as policy decisions that are made in washington, d c, one of the ones you are watching closely is this idea of offering a tax credit to certain purchasers of ev vehicles. explain what you are watching, and particularly, what's the concern for those you represent? jennifer: sure, absolutely. and that's a good question. i think one of the big things that everybody is talking about these days is electric vehicles. at the autoshow, you know, as the public comes and visits the autoshow, they're going to see a huge variety of electric vehicles and really get a chance to see them up close, and all the options and the choices available to american families. it's unfortunate, but that has taken other bit more time for consumers to kind of get adjusted and accept these new vehicles. we are getting there. we are further behind in the united states than other countries. i think we are maybe at 3% or 4% of purchasing of electric vehicles.

that needs to increase. several things to talk about that kind of concern them when it comes to purchasing an electric vehicle is perhaps range, range of the vehicle. the government has done a lot recently to help that along with the recently passed infrastructure bill. there's $7.5 billion set aside to build more of these charging stations around the country, about 500,000 of them. i think that will help consumers with range anxiety. the other thing is certainly cost. it is something being debated right now in congress under the build back better act. it's a proposal to provide tax incentives for u.s. consumers to help them purchase these electric vehicles. the goal is to get more of these electric vehicles on the roads to help with the environment. if we can help consumers, help with the cost of those electric vehicles, would definitely support that. unfortunately, this proposal as

written right now is much more complicated than that. what it does actually is it discriminates against certain american workers. for those american workers who have chosen not to unionize, the vehicles that they produce in the united states receive $4500 less of a credit. you can get a maximum of $12,5 00 credit for these vehicles but only if you meet an array of restrictions. one of those is making sure that vehicles made by unionized labor. if it is not, the vehicle does not get that full tax credit. we've done the analysis. today, there are over 50 electric vehicle models and options out there for families to choose from. under this proposal, only two of those can get the full tax credit. it's extremely limiting. while we support the tax credit

to help consumers purchase these vehicles, we think it needs to be simpler and be supplied to all electric vehicles. pedro: which companies would be impacted in the way that you described? give us names? jennifer: so, all of my numbers, the international automakers, plus tesla, some of the new entrance into the market. if your workforce is not unionized, then you would be impacted by this proposal. and nobody has shown me how one of these vehicles made by a unionized workforce is actually better for the environment than a vehicle made by a nonunionized workforce. pedro: have you talked to the five administration board members of congress directly about this? and what has been the response? jennifer: we absolutely have been talking to lots of policymakers about this. there certainly is some concern about this proposal out there. senator manchin publicly spoke out about. . it a couple months ago he called it. un-american.

it is certainly not a workable solution. that has been some senders who have raised concerns about this. you know, i will also tell you, you know, beyond just here in d.c., 11 governors have written letters to leadership raising concerns and rejections to the proposal as written. international, a significant opposition has been raised. there was a letter sent to congressional leadership by over 25 ambassadors around the world who have objections to the way this proposal is written. mexico and canada, our closest trading partners and allies, have also raised significant sermons about this proposal and threatened retaliation if it were to go through. there has been significant opposition to the proposal as written. everyone just supports tax credits that apply to all electric vehicles. we think that's the best path forward. pedro: we are waiting until 9:00 when the house comes in.

if you a foreign auto owner, (202) 748-8002. kathy from new york, you are first caller with our guest. caller: good morning to you. i was wondering about the tour this would take on the weakest electric grids in america and around the country. during a blackout, i have no electric

if uct focus your question or comment on our current guest, please. >> i just bought one. i was dancing around maybe getting a rav-4 hybrid. i declined because i'm concerned about the battery of the hybrid. the charge, recharge, charge,

recharge. will it last. two, the electric vehicle side, it's all electric coming out in 2022. big this year. 200-mile range does me no good. but i live in new york. zero, -10 overnight and the car is outside. how does one get -- i'm --ed about battery life. host: that's bob from utica. if i may, someone who tweets us this morning you may have referenced it already, a viewer asked how do our electric car initiatives recon siel with nafta? she may mean the usmca, actually. are we competing with canada and mexico or working with them on these electric vehicle initiatives? >> yeah, so usmca obviously it's a little over a year, year and a

half, since it went into force. it's a critical trade agreement between the three countries especially for the auto industry and for here in the united states for the auto industry. it is important. i will tell you our members have put a lot of investment to ensure it's successful. that they are able to comply with all the requirements of it. you know, we want it to be successful. we actually -- we need it to be, again. our closest trading allies and for the auto industry it's critically important. i would say the argument, there are efforts under way to make sure that, you know, when it comes to material, raw materials need for batteries, when it comes to complying with usmca, there's significant changes were implemented from nafta of course in order for our vehicles to be duty-free under the agreement. there's a lot of discussions going on. to be honest with you, those are ongoing, right. there's still -- people are still trying to figure out the agreement, making sure they're

complying with it. there's still questions about interpretation. as i mentioned a little while ago with regard to electric vehicles and particularly with this proposal for tax credits for consumers, right, mexico and canada have actually been the loudest voices against this proposal. because it would negatively impact the vehicles made in their countries. the vehicles have to be made in america by unionized works to get that full tax credit. they have been vocal against the proposal and been pushing for a straightforward tax credit that applies to all electric vehicles, so whether they're made in canada, mexico or here in the united states. the goal is to get more people driving these vehicles to help the environment overall. host: antonio, in washington, d.c., go ahead. caller: i want to circle back and comment on the sarcastic thing your guest just said about the preference toward union labor and just say that while

combating climate change is extremely important it's also important to have workers with decent rights and bargaining power and you know, say over their working conditions. thank you. host: i'm happy to respond to that. first of all, i would not be negative against unionized work forces. i do believe this is up -- it is up to the workers whether they want to unionize. when the government is proposing a legislation that discriminates against those workers who have chosen not to unionize, i don't think that that is right either. my members provide excellent jobs that pay competitive wages with excellent benefits. very safe working environments. and their workers have chosen not to unionize and they should not be penalized for that. >> the detroit news reporting that toyota is reporting they'll miss their jut put goal because

of supply chain concerns, particularly chip distribution. how much is that a concern overall for the people you represent? tboip it's been a significant concern -- guest: it's been a significant concern. it actually started last year, end of 2020, really became a significant problem in early 2021 and it's an all last year and it continues into 2022. the shortage of chips and supply chain disruption have been a significant problem for the automakers. it is something that, you know, certainly we have been focused on, trying to work through. and we do appreciate the biden administration's efforts to try to find some solutions for that. there is certainly a bill in congress, right now, passed through the senate, to authorize $52 billion additional funding to actually help support -- >> department of homeland security. he recently met with conference