Trump Orders Treasury to Restrict Wind and Solar Energy Tax Credits

The Treasury must issue new guidance to prevent circumvention of the “beginning of construction” rules

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U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the Secretary of the Treasury to terminate the clean electricity production and investment tax credits for wind and solar facilities and implement the enhanced foreign entity of concern restrictions identified in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Act.

The Secretary must take all action to strictly enforce the termination of the clean electricity production and investment tax credits under sections 45Y and 48E for wind and solar facilities within 45 days following the enactment of the Budget Reconciliation Bill.

These actions include issuing new and revised guidance that is appropriate and consistent with the applicable law, ensuring that policies concerning the “beginning of construction” are not circumvented. The Secretary will achieve this by preventing the artificial acceleration or manipulation of eligibility and restricting the use of broad safe harbors unless a substantial portion of a subject facility has been built.

The Secretary must also take prompt and lawful action to implement the Act’s strengthened restrictions on Foreign Entities of Concern within 45 days.

Additionally, all regulations, guidance, policies, and practices under the Department’s jurisdiction that favor wind and solar over dispatchable energy sources must be reviewed within the same 45-day period. Any such preferences must then be removed through appropriate and legally consistent revisions.

The Secretaries of the Treasury and the Interior must submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, detailing their findings and the actions taken or planned to carry out the order within 45 days of this order.

Trump stated that the federal government has allowed American taxpayers to subsidize what he considers costly and unreliable energy sources, such as wind and solar, for a considerable period. He claimed these projects displaced affordable, reliable, and dispatchable domestic energy sources, weakened the electric grid, and harmed the nation’s natural landscape.

The President noted that dependence on green subsidies has also exposed the U.S. to foreign-controlled supply chains, threatening national security. Ending these taxpayer-funded handouts, according to the President, is crucial for achieving energy dominance, fostering economic growth, ensuring national security, and maintaining fiscal stability.

President Trump signed a 940-page domestic policy and tax bill into law on July 4 after the United States House of Representatives passed the Senate’s version of the budget reconciliation bill without any changes by a vote of 218 to 214.

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