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As the new term of the Trump administration gets settled, the United States economy sits at a crossroads. With hundreds of billions invested in the energy transition by the previous administration, aimed towards long-term economic and energy security, the stage is set for the United States to take the next step in maintaining its status as the world leader in sustainable technology. Internationally, countries are jockeying to control this trillion dollar market, and while China has an early manufacturing lead, the U.S. industrial and tech sectors can prove to be a decision maker. By focusing on market-driven solutions and domestic resource development, the Trump administration can accelerate what the Biden administration did for the green economy by expediting permits and loosening regulatory approvals, while further strengthening national security and creating high-paying jobs. Critical minerals America’s transition to clean energy requires a robust domestic supply of critical minerals, with lithium playing a central role in our energy future. The U.S. possesses significant lithium reserves, particularly in Nevada, California, Texas, and Arkansas, that remain largely untapped. As Trumps ally Elon Musk has pointed out several times, investing in lithium refining is a license to printing money, and contributes directly to the energy and automotive industry through the production of lithium-ion batteries. The United States must maintain a strong presence in critical economic sectors. With EVs being the primary driver of battery demand, the shift toward EVs poses a challenge to the U.S. automotive industry, a key pillar of the nation’s economy. Over a million Americans are employed in motor vehicle and parts manufacturing, an industry that also plays a fundamental role in the country’s metalworking expertise. This underscores the importance of the ongoing U.S. steel saga and why keeping these industries under American control makes the economy stronger. As other nations scramble to source their own supply of lithium and other critical minerals for the transition, we have the opportunity to reduce dependence on foreign entities and empower U.S. businesses. Embrace the transition Electrical vehicle (EV) adoption is a win-win for the U.S. The link between dependence on foreign oil and economic recessions plagued Americans in 2022 with high gas prices. While the benefits of EVs and renewable energy are very clear in the context of shifting global economic priorities, America needs to fully commit to it lest it find itself too far behind to compete. This means significantly ramping up our current production. To enhance the scale of domestic EV supply chains, the U.S. military aims to create a dedicated market for American companies by utilizing next-generation batteries in a select group of military vehicles, drones, and equipmentexcluding current lithium-ion technologies and Chinese suppliers. Likewise, these initiatives could extend to other government agencies procuring batteries, such as the U.S. Postal Service fleet and the 28 other federal agencies that have pledged to increase EV adoption. This would go a long way in creating a fast and efficient supply chain for consumer-facing products. Supporting this could be government-led policies and public-private projects connecting domestic mining operations with local electric vehicles and renewable energy manufacturing further integrating supply chains which will benefit the rural areas in which lithium and other minerals are found. High paying jobs, upskilling opportunities, and the economic development of towns and cities are the direct benefits before we begin to consider the accepted financial gains that everyday Americans will make once the EV and renewable energy sector are implemented at scale. What is next? By reducing barriers to private sector investment, streamlining regulations, and supporting domestic resource development, the Trump administration can lead in developing clean energy solutions that benefit the economy and the environment. Environmental stewardship and economic growth are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary goals that can be achieved through smart, market-driven policies. The U.S. can be the first green global economy, or we can continue being dependent on foreign interests, selling off American assets like U.S. steel, and trusting foreign powers to run supply chains critical to our national security: This is the crossroads we currently sit at. All indications point towards this second iteration of the Trump administration being good for U.S. businesses for the sake of a strong American economy, this means committing to the transition that entire industries have been prepping for since he last took office. Teague Egan is CEO of EnergyX. The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more.
Category:
E-Commerce
Recent violence against Tesla dealerships will be labeled domestic terrorism, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday as he selected a new Tesla car to show support for the electric carmaker’s chief, his ally Elon Musk. Shares of the automaker closed nearly 4% higher on Tuesday, rebounding from the biggest one-day fall in four-and-a half years on Monday. Activists have lately staged so-called Tesla Takedown protests to voice displeasure over Musk’s role in sweeping cuts to the federal workforce at the behest of Trump and cancellation of contracts that fund humanitarian programs around the world. Musk, the world’s richest person, is spearheading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. “They’re harming a great American company,” Trump said at the White House, referring to the demonstrators. Nearby, a number of Tesla vehicles were lined up on the driveway between the mansion and the south lawn. “Let me tell you, you do it to Tesla, and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you, and . . . you’re going to go through hell.” About 350 demonstrators protested outside a Tesla electric vehicle dealership in Portland, Oregon, last week, while nine people were arrested during a raucous demonstration outside a New York City Tesla dealership earlier in March. There have also been recent reports of vandalism on Tesla vehicles and showrooms that are under investigation. Trump’s decision to buy a Tesla electric vehiclehe chose a Model Swas a significant show of support for Musk, who has come under criticism for his work in Washington. Model S pricing starts at about $80,000. Trump, in the driver’s seat of the shiny red car, said he’s not allowed to drive anymore but would keep the vehicle at the White House for his staff to use. He said he would pay by check and did not want a discount from Musk. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump defended Musk, saying he was “putting it on the line” to help the country and was doing a “fantastic” job. “I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” Trump said. Musk thanked the president for his support on his own social media platform X. Trump in January took aim at electric vehicles, revoking a 2021 executive order signed by his predecessor Joe Biden that sought to ensure half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 were electric. Tesla’s market capitalization has more than halved since hitting an all-time high of $1.5 trillion on December 17, erasing most of the gains the stock made after Musk-backed Trump won the U.S. election in November. The stock’s decline since December stems from falling vehicle sales and profit, protests against Musk’s political activity, and investor worries that politics was distracting the billionaire from tending to his cash cow. But at the White House event with Trump, Musk said he would double production in the next two years. “As a function of the great policies of President Trump and his administration and an act of faith in America, Tesla is going to double vehicle output in the United States within the next two years,” he said. Musk said in January that Tesla was working hard to increase annual volumes this year, after posting its first drop in annual deliveries in 2024. He did not reiterate an earlier promise of 20%-30% growth in vehicle sales this year. Musk told reporters on Tuesday he would stay in Washington as long as he was useful, but said he would remain Tesla’s CEO. Jeff Mason and Abhirup Roy, Reuters Reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; additional reporting by Shubham Kalia and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru.
Category:
E-Commerce
Mondays sell-off on Wall Street sent consumers into a panic as talk of a recession continued to heat up. Most S&P 500 stocks are now in correction territory, and the trade war with Canada, Mexico, and China continues to heat up. Tuesdays trading, meanwhile, was something of a roller-coaster, with stocks yo-yoing and finally settling at another loss. The Dow fell 478 points, or 1.14%, with the Nasdaq index slipping 42 points (0.75%) and the S&P 500 largely flat, losing 32 points. Heres the good news. Despite all the negative news and Mondays sell-off, were not in a recession yetand its far from a sure thing. Consumer spending recently posted its first drop in nearly two years, but its still in a very healthy range. That said, the whiplash youre feeling is far from unjustified. Three weeks ago, stocks were at or near all-time highs, and few economists were talking about a recession. These days, its seemingly all anyone can talk about. What the analysts say Goldman Sachs on Friday increased its odds of a recession over the next 12 months from 15% to 20%, writing in a note to clients that we see policy changes as the key risk. Put another way: Goldman is keeping a close eye on tariffs. If Donald Trump is willing to back off of them as recession risks increase, the firm wrote, a recession can be avoided. If not . . . If the White House remained committed to its policies even in the face of much worse data, Goldman Sachs wrote, recession risk would rise further. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moodys Analytics, is less optimistic, however. He currently puts the odds of a recession at better than one in threebut he agrees tariffs are the trigger. The risks of a U.S. recession starting in the coming year are uncomfortably high and rising, he wrote Monday in a post on X. I would put them at 35%, up from 15% at the start of the year. For context, the typical recession probability is 15%the U.S. economy historically suffers a recession every 6 or 7 years on average. The economy will likely suffer a downturn if the Trump administration follows through on the tariff increases it has announced and maintains those tariffs for more than a few months. JPMorgan is the bear of Wall Street on this particular topic, putting the odds at 40%. Trump himself stoked fears on Sunday, when he said, I hate to predict things like that, when asked about the prospect of a recession, adding there is a period of transition. What to watch Technically, a recession can be declared after at least two consecutive quarters of declining economic output. So it would be July before any recession calls could be formalized. The effects of an economic downturn could be felt sooner, though. The numbers to watch to get a sense of where the economy is going are employment (which has seen employers add between 150,000 and 200,000 jobs per month since December), wage growth (which has been outpacing inflation for almost two years) and consumer spending (which showed a 2% drop in February). Keeping up with the fast pace of change in tariffs can be exhausting. On Tuesday alone, Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports to 50% following a decision by the Ontario government to impose a 25% tax on electricity exports to the U.S. By mid-afternoon, however, Ontario suspended its surcharge and Trump later walked back his escalation. So, rather than monitoring the day-to-day minutia, experts say its best to keep an eye on how widespread Trumps tariffs end up being. Tariffs themselves, depends how you use it, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told Stanford Graduate School of Business in an interview released last weekend. [When used] as a tool or kind of a weapon to doin some casesgood stuff its very modestly inflationary, I mean youre talking about 0.1% or 0.2%. Now if you put 25% tariffs on all imports, thats a lot more. That could be, in my view, quite recessionary and inflationary.
Category:
E-Commerce
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