Chase Bank CEO says Biden's EV push could ‘imperil national security,' benefit China

JPMorgan Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon – a top Democrat Party donor and among the United States' most powerful business leaders – is raising concerns about the Biden administration's electric vehicle push, saying such an agenda poses a national security risk. 

"China ... and its economic muscle to dominate batteries, rare earths, semiconductors or EVs, could eventually imperil national security by disrupting our access to these products and materials," Dimon wrote in the company’s 2022 annual report released Monday. "We cannot cede these important resources and capabilities to another country."

While the administration and others in the U.S. have acknowledged the country needs to quickly become less dependent on China's electric vehicle batteries and semiconductors, and have made strides to do so, America is still far away from independence. 

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, in fact, addressed such issues during a recent House hearing.

When asked by GOP Rep. Guy Reschenthaler whether China's monopoly on the rare earth elements needed to produce EV batteries would mean "electric vehicles and renewables deepen our reliance on China, correct?," she replied "Yes, OK."

Meanwhile, the administration appeared Tuesday to take a next step toward its continuing effort to get the U.S. stop producing fossil fuel. 

The White House issued a release detailing its plan to woo coal communities with financial incentives – including bonuses and tax breaks – in exchange for undertaking green energy projects on current and former coal mining lands.

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