US Republican Senator Daniel Meuser has tabled another bill aimed at repealing a chemical tax which “undermines the manufacture of lead batteries”, said industry body Battery Council International (BCI).
Meuser tabled the USA Batteries Act on Tuesday. BCI said the tax it would ditch gives foreign manufacturers an unfair advantage on the cost of raw materials.
Meuser’s bill would eliminate tax on lead oxide, antimony and sulfuric acid. The chemical tax was implemented as part of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. BCI said this tax forces higher costs for key raw materials used to manufacture lead batteries, a tax that is not levied on imported batteries.
“The purpose of the infrastructure bill was to support domestic manufacturing. If this tax is allowed to stand it will negatively impact the 25,000 American workers who make and recycle lead batteries and take pride in the fact that their product is the most recycled consumer product in the US,” said Roger Miksad, Battery Council International executive vice president.
BCI spokesperson Lisa Dry said the new bill is a variation of the one unsuccessfully introduced in 2021, as reported by BEST. “With a Republican House we may see a bit more traction,” she said.
Meuser represents Pennsylvania’s 9th congressional district in the US Senate. The Republican Accountability Project said in reference to the election of Joe Biden as US President in 2020, Meuser was “an early proponent of the lies that the election results were suspect”.
