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Donald Trump has vowed to speed up regulatory approvals for investors spending $1bn or more in the US, a signal that he will address one of developers’ thorniest complaints when he takes office next month.
The president-elect made the offer on Truth Social on Tuesday, reflecting his plan to spur more domestic investments through deregulation rather than the tax credits and subsidies that have been the preferred approach under President Joe Biden.
“Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the US of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals. GET READY TO ROCK!!!,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Trump did not provide any details on which regulatory approvals would be granted or how the $1bn investment threshold would be applied. But the proposal comes on top of his vow during the campaign to reduce the corporate tax rate from 21 per cent to 15 per cent for companies that invest in the country — another big pitch to boost domestic manufacturing.
“This is awesome,” Elon Musk, the billionaire technology executive and one of Trump’s top cheerleaders and business allies, wrote on X in reaction to the $1bn permitting proposal. Trump has tasked Musk with slashing federal spending.
Permitting reform enjoys widespread support on both sides of the political arena in the US. It is also backed by advocates of clean energy — who see it as critical to rolling out the big projects needed to accelerate a transition from polluting fossil fuels — and oil and gas developers, who say permitting rules have slowed construction of pipelines and other infrastructure.
Trump has also vowed to slash regulations designed to curb emissions from the oil sector, in an attempt to promote more drilling.
Conservationists argue permitting and other environmental rules are essential to preserve the landscape and maintain clean air and water.
The $1bn floor for permitting relief could be controversial because it excludes investments under that threshold, meaning small and medium size projects would not benefit.
Trump’s post came as he has pledged to implement other policies — such as across-the-board tariffs of up to 20 per cent on all imports, and a rollback of clean energy tax credits — that threaten to damage investment in US manufacturing and reignite inflation in the world’s largest economy.
Throughout Biden’s presidency, some US officials and lawmakers have been worried that regulatory hurdles were holding back the implementation of his industrial policy, including infrastructure, clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing projects.
Developers of cross-state transmissions lines — considered critical to efforts to electrify the energy sector and support more battery-powered cars — have also complained permitting rules stunted construction.
A legislative compromise between Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, and John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, to speed up permitting, failed to pass Congress.
The Biden administration took some steps by executive action to try to hasten some regulatory approvals earlier this year — but what developers consider onerous environmental assessments, as well as a patchwork of rules set by state and federal agencies, remain in place.