Trump has alluded to such moves. He said at a May 1 rally in Wisconsin that upon taking office, he would "impose an immediate moratorium on all new spending grants and giveaways under the Joe Biden mammoth socialist bills like the so-called inflation Reduction Act."
"We're gonna save all that money. It's not helping you at all. It's not doing anything for you. It's just, it's just like a political game," Trump said.
To actually get a wholesale IRA repeal, Trump would need Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress, which is unlikely, though possible. Moreover, those hypothetical Republican majorities would need to put IRA rollbacks at the top of their legislative priority list, which is also not guaranteed.
However, in a second term, Trump could further delay implementation of the IRA's policies, which have been already been rolling out more slowly than some would like due to the complexities of the law.
McNeill said he has been closely watching the political environment regarding the IRA. He said any changes should be a bipartisan discussion rather than any sort of Republican rollback or reduction.
McNeill noted the Chinese government has been supporting its domestic automakers in the form of billions of dollars in assistance and subsidies, 0% financing and lower labor costs, among other incentives.
"It gets very difficult to compete at that price level or that cost level from the U.S., which is why it's really important, a lot of people believe, to protect the U.S. manufacturers from that," he said.
To help U.S. automakers compete with Chinese companies, President last week announced plans on China-made electric vehicles, raising them to 100% from 25%.
However, several automotive and trade experts the increased tariffs are a near-term protectionism act that may delay, but won't stop, Chinese automakers from coming to the U.S. with EVs.
The EV tariffs, and other increases on battery materials, were part of a larger package of new tariff rates on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports.
— CNBC's contributed to this report.
