STUTTGART — Funding and different instruments to speed up the commercial transition to a decarbonized future are welcome, however commerce limitations will not be, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius stated, referring to the U.S. Inflation Discount Act.

“Commerce limitations, please no,” he stated throughout a information convention on the automaker’s full-year outcomes.

With $369 billion of subsidies largely for producers based mostly in North America, the U.S. IRA has put the European Union on the defensive.
European leaders worry the native content material necessities might lure firms away from the area.

Kaellenius welcomed the efforts in the direction of a greener future however criticized the protectionist unwanted side effects of the act.

“The most important exporters from the U.S. again to Europe are German firms,” Kaellenius stated, including that the automaker is a type of firms.

Mercedes was already regionalizing its sourcing chains within the U.S., Kaellenius stated. “Now it is going to be financially supported, so it would certainly be extra economically viable,” he added.