Incoming US President Donald Trump has pledged to eliminate clean energy tax credits in the United States.

It’s one of a number of policy changes Trump announced during his campaign for re-election, but questions remain about how practical and likely it is to come to fruition.

The Democrats introduced the policy, but as Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters economist Alan Arcand explains, the caps were built into the American Inflation Reduction Act, which makes it tricky territory for the Republicans.

He says about $110 billion in investment had been attributed to the act (or IRA) since it came into effect in August of 2022, and of that about $96 billion – over 80 per cent – has been in Republican congressional districts.

“So even though it was a democratic administration that passed this law, a lot of the investment has been in Republican areas,” says Arcand. “It will be tricky for Trump to eliminate the IRA.”