WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S.

House of Representatives on Monday proposed killing the electric

vehicle tax credit and repealing fuel efficiency rules designed

to prod automakers into building more zero-emission vehicles as

part of a broad-based tax reform bill.

The proposal, which is set for a House Ways and Means

Committee hearing on Tuesday, would repeal a $7,500 new-vehicle

tax credit and a $4,000 used-vehicle credit on Dec. 31, although

it would maintain the new-vehicle credit for an additional year

for automakers that have not yet sold 200,000 EVs.

The president of the Electric Drive Transportation

Association, Genevieve Cullen, criticized the proposal, saying

that plans "to abandon U.S. leadership in energy innovation by

gutting federal investment in electrification are

catastrophically short-sighted."

The proposal, she said, would deliver "an enormous market

advantage" to competitors like China and threaten U.S.

manufacturing and jobs.

The U.S. Treasury in 2024 awarded more than $2 billion in

point-of-sale rebates for EVs.

The proposal leaves in place a key battery production tax

credit for automakers and battery makers, but a new provision

would bar the credit for vehicles produced with components made

by some Chinese companies or under a license agreement with

Chinese firms.

The provision, which would take effect in 2027, could bar

credits for cars powered by Chinese battery technology licensed

by American companies such as Ford Motor ( F ) or Tesla

.

House Republicans also propose to kill a loan program that

supports the manufacture of certain advanced technology

vehicles. It would rescind any unobligated funding and rescind

corporate average fuel economy standards and greenhouse gas

emission rules for 2027 and beyond. That portion will be taken

up by the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Among outstanding loans finalized in President Joe Biden's

last weeks in office are $9.63 billion to a joint venture of

Ford Motor ( F ) and South Korean battery maker SK On for

construction of three battery manufacturing plants in Tennessee

and Kentucky; $7.54 billion to a joint venture of

Chrysler-parent Stellantis ( STLA ) and Samsung SDI

for two EV lithium-ion battery plants in Indiana;

and $6.57 billion to Rivian for a plant in Georgia to

begin building smaller, less expensive EVs in 2028.