FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2016, file photo, General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra speaks next to a autonomous Chevrolet Bolt electric car in Detroit. The jobs that GM will shed through buyouts and layoffs are now held by people who are experts in the internal combustion engine, mechanical engineers and managers who work on complex components that won’t be needed on the much simpler electric vehicles that the largest U.S. automaker says are its future. GM said cutting these jobs is necessary to invest self-driving and other new technologies. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
General Motors chief executive Mary Barra speaks next to an autonomous Chevrolet Bolt electric car in Detroit. AP

Trump aide calls for end of electric-vehicle subsidies



US President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser on Monday said the White House wants to end subsidies for electric-vehicle purchases, without saying how it would eliminate the incentives that were created by Congress.

Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters that electric-car subsidies "will all end in the near future", suggesting 2020 or 2021 when asked for a timeline.

He also said no plans are in place to cut off General Motors from federal spending after Mr Trump last week directed agencies to explore how to do so after lashing out on Twitter at the automaker's plans to close plants and cut thousands of jobs.

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Mr Kudlow didn’t provide details on what the White House would do to eliminate or change the electric-car tax credits, which would require an act of Congress. Experts doubt the sweetener can be changed by executive order.

Currently, consumers who buy plug-in electric cars are eligible for a US$7,500 (Dh27,547.50) federal tax credit, which begins to phase out after for each manufacturer after selling 200,000 eligible vehicles.

“We want to end, we will end, those subsidies and others of the Obama administration,” Mr Kudlow said.

Mr Trump last week directed several angry tweets at GM, the largest US carmaker, after the company announced plans to cut as many as 15,000 jobs and cancel production at five plants in North America, saying in one last Tuesday that "we are now looking at cutting all @GM subsidies".

If the current incentive were left unchanged, GM buyers in 2020 could be left with no credit at the current pace of sales. That’s because the $7,500 credit phases out in a one-year period starting the second calendar quarter after a manufacturer hits the 200,000-vehicle threshold – a milestone GM is expected to reach in coming months.

Lawmakers have sought to extend the credit by raising the 200,000-vehicle cap, but legislation unveiled by House Republicans on Monday didn’t include an extension of the electric-vehicle tax credit sought by a coalition that includes GM and Tesla.

The Senate has yet to make its version of the legislation, though Senator Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who chairs the Finance Committee, said earlier this month it’s possible an extension will be included in the bill.

Picture of Joumblatt and Hariri breaking bread sets Twitter alight

Mr Joumblatt’s pessimism regarding the Lebanese political situation didn’t stop him from enjoying a cheerful dinner on Tuesday with several politicians including Mr Hariri.

Caretaker Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury tweeted a picture of the group sitting around a table at a discrete fish restaurant in Beirut’s upscale Sodeco area.

Mr Joumblatt told The National that the fish served at Kelly’s Fish lounge had been very good.

“They really enjoyed their time”, remembers the restaurant owner. “Mr Hariri was taking selfies with everybody”.

Mr Hariri and Mr Joumblatt often have dinner together to discuss recent political developments.

Mr Joumblatt was a close ally of Mr Hariri’s assassinated father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The pair were leading figures in the political grouping against the 15-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon that ended after mass protests in 2005 in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s murder. After the younger Hariri took over his father’s mantle in 2004, the relationship with Mr Joumblatt endured.

However, the pair have not always been so close. In the run-up to the election last year, Messrs Hariri and Joumblatt went months without speaking over an argument regarding the new proportional electoral law to be used for the first time. Mr Joumblatt worried that a proportional system, which Mr Hariri backed, would see the influence of his small sect diminished.

With so much of Lebanese politics agreed in late-night meetings behind closed doors, the media and pundits put significant weight on how regularly, where and with who senior politicians meet.

In the picture, alongside Messrs Khoury and Hariri were Mr Joumbatt and his wife Nora, PSP politician Wael Abou Faour and Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Nazih el Nagari.

The picture of the dinner led to a flurry of excitement on Twitter that it signified an imminent government formation. “God willing, white smoke will rise soon and Walid Beik [a nickname for Walid Joumblatt] will accept to give up the minister of industry”, one user replied to the tweet. “Blessings to you…We would like you to form a cabinet”, wrote another.  

The next few days will be crucial in determining whether these wishes come true.

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