A U.S. senator who has strongly supported the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act(IRA) stated he is against a possible move by Washignton to alleviate South Korean carmakers' concerns over the legislation’s potential impact. 

According to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Tuesday, the committee chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV) clarified his stance in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. 

In the letter, the committee said, Manchin urged the department to stick to the strict interpretation of a section of the IRA regarding the scope of the commercial electric vehicles that are eligible for tax subsidies of up to seven-thousand-500 U.S. dollar-worth. 

Otherwise, the senator argued, the law will fail in its aim to woo businesses to North America, placing the U.S. auto industry at risk.  

The IRA excludes passenger electric vehicles assembled outside North America from the new EV tax credit, but commercial electric vehicles are not subject to the law’s manufacturing base restrictions. 

Earlier this month, South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors called on the U.S. government to interpret the “commercial use electric vehicles” and grant the tax credit to rental cars, leased vehicles, and rideshare vehicles in an apparent bid to minimize losses from the U.S. law.