The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that last month, Republican congressman Pete Stauber penned a pointed letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai before she embarked on a trip to Asia. The Post's Gabriel Friedman writes that Mr. Stauber said, "I write to express concern over recent comments by Indonesian government officials that the country is seeking to enter a limited free trade agreement with the U.S., to increase trade of critical minerals needed for EV batteries." Mr. Stauber's intervention added to a growing battle in Washington about how to interpret a clause in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that provides generous tax incentives for electric vehicles, provided inputs are sourced from countries with which the U.S. has a free trade deals. The choice will shed light on how much the Biden administration is committed to fighting climate change by expediting electric vehicle adoption, or whether the IRA is more about shoring up a manufacturing supply chain independent from China. FPX Nickel boss Martin Turenne says, "Nickel is the litmus test for how committed the U.S. is to the concept of friend-shoring." FPX Nickel is hoping to develop a nickel deposit in British Columbia.