From its arid desert climate to its mercurial, centre-right politics, the southern border state of Arizona hardly seems to have much in common with Canada beyond winter-wary snowbirds.

But President Joe Biden91裸聊视频檚 controversial plan to use protectionist tax incentives to promote U.S.-made electric vehicles, which threatens misery for the Canadian auto sector, is making for all kinds of strange bedfellows.

With its proximity to both Silicon Valley and the U.S.-Mexico border, without the high taxes and regulation of tech-savvy neighbour California, the Grand Canyon State is striving to play host to the looming EV revolution 91裸聊视频� a vision endangered by Biden91裸聊视频檚 scheme.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e going to be one of the next hubs in the United States for next-generation electric-vehicle manufacturing,91裸聊视频� said Chris Camacho, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

91裸聊视频淲e just want, from a federal policy standpoint, a fair and balanced approach so that consumers can buy the products that they want. Whether they91裸聊视频檙e produced in states like Arizona or other states across the country, we think prudent policy to induce consumer behaviour should be done fairly.91裸聊视频�

Arizona is far from the only state opposed to the measure, which if passed would allow would-be electric vehicle buyers to enjoy tax credits worth up to $12,500 provided their preferred car or truck was assembled in the U.S. and built with union labour.

But few have been more vocal critics. Last month, Phoenix chamber of commerce CEO Todd Sanders and Jaime Molera, Arizona director of a conservative environmental group called The Western Way, penned an opinion piece denouncing a 91裸聊视频減oorly drafted91裸聊视频� scheme that would 91裸聊视频渉obble91裸聊视频� the state91裸聊视频檚 EV ambitions.

Sanders, for his part, is taking little comfort in the fact that Biden91裸聊视频檚 Build Back Better bill, the $1.75-trillion climate and social spending package containing the tax credits, suffered a setback before Christmas when renegade Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin declared he would not support it.

91裸聊视频淲hat you learn early on is nothing91裸聊视频檚 ever dead,91裸聊视频� Sanders, himself a veteran of public-policy debates within government at the state-legislature level, said in an interview.

91裸聊视频淚f we can bring in Canada into this, obviously our friends from Mexico and then our congressional delegation, that starts to at least raise the concern that we have that this isn91裸聊视频檛 necessarily the right way to go.91裸聊视频�

Along with up-and-coming EV players like Rivian, Nikola and ElectraMecchanica, Arizona is attracting parts and manufacturing service suppliers as well 91裸聊视频� including Jomi Engineering Group, based in Barrie, Ont., which by mid-year will have some 120 employees at its new facility in Casa Grande, just south of Phoenix.

91裸聊视频淵ou can91裸聊视频檛 fight it,91裸聊视频� Jomi founder and president Michael Hoy said of the growing EV sector91裸聊视频檚 gravitational pull towards the southern U.S.

91裸聊视频�(We) couldn91裸聊视频檛 build the Canadian operation any more; we would have probably never had the opportunity as we do, or get competitive enough, if we didn91裸聊视频檛 move closer to our customers.91裸聊视频�

In October, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey was among 11 Republican state governors who wrote to congressional leaders denouncing Biden91裸聊视频檚 plan as an unfair use of taxpayer dollars.

91裸聊视频淲e cannot support any proposal that creates a discriminatory environment in our states by punishing autoworkers and car companies because the workers in their plants chose not to unionize,91裸聊视频� the letter says.

91裸聊视频淐ongress should not enact proposals that favour vehicles produced by one workforce over another, particularly when doing so dramatically limits consumer choice and undermines larger carbon emission reduction goals.91裸聊视频�

In the 50-50 Senate, West Virginia91裸聊视频檚 Manchin has been the focus of will-he, won91裸聊视频檛-he speculation about his support for Build Back Better. Less attention has been paid to an equally unpredictable Democratic colleague, Sen. Krysten Sinema, whose moderate-conservative politics nicely encapsulate the purple state she represents: Arizona.

As a right-to-work state 91裸聊视频� by law, would-be employees can91裸聊视频檛 be required to join a union 91裸聊视频� with a vested interest in a robust and growing EV industry, Arizona is focused only on doing away with the $4,500 portion of the tax credits that are focused on American-assembled, union-built vehicles.

91裸聊视频淭hat should make them almost the optimum ally,91裸聊视频� said Roy Norton, a former senior diplomat who did two stints at the Canadian Embassy in the 1990s and 2000s before becoming diplomat-in-residence at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Ont.

91裸聊视频淲e don91裸聊视频檛 want to kill subsidies. We just want to kill subsidies for U.S.-made vehicles exclusively, and Arizona should be precisely on the same page in as much as it91裸聊视频檚 a right-to-work state that91裸聊视频檚 at odds with a president and an administration that is a bit of a throwback.91裸聊视频�

Officials in Ottawa confirm that Arizona91裸聊视频檚 congressional delegation, and Sinema91裸聊视频檚 office in particular, continue to be a focus of the federal government91裸聊视频檚 lobbying efforts, which peaked late last year with D.C. visits by multiple emissaries, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Biden, however, makes no secret of his affinity for blue-collar union workers, nor his ultimate goal of restoring the former lustre of the once-mighty U.S. manufacturing sector. Both, along with reducing carbon emissions, are the principal goals of a tax credit scheme the White House says is close to his heart.

Though he didn91裸聊视频檛 mention EV tax credits specifically, Biden himself signalled strongly Friday that he hasn91裸聊视频檛 given up on the Build Back Better bill, which is likely to return to the fore at some point in the coming weeks or months.

Whether it will continue to include the tax credits, or if the EV vision emerges in a different form, remains an open question.

Responding to the latest jobs report in the U.S., the president reiterated Friday his vision of a resurgent American manufacturing sector, fuelled by an economy that grows 91裸聊视频渇rom the bottom up and the middle out.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淔rom Day 1, my economic agenda has been different. It91裸聊视频檚 about taking a fundamentally new approach to our economy 91裸聊视频� one that sees the prosperity of working families as a solution, not the problem,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淟et91裸聊视频檚 make what we91裸聊视频檙e selling in America made in America, so we91裸聊视频檙e not at risk of foreign supply chains and shipping delays.91裸聊视频�

James McCarten, The Canadian Press

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