President Joe Biden challenged China to out-compete the United States in the electric vehicle market as he takes his trillion-dollar infrastructure spending package on a sales tour around the country.
“They think they’re going to win,” Biden said of the Asian giant at a Ford facility in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday. “But I got news for them: They won’t win this race. We have to move fast. That’s what we’re doing here.”
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Biden also took a dig at former President Donald Trump during remarks after a tour of the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center. During the Trump administration, “Infrastructure Week” became a political punchline because the former president would repeatedly veer off-message to slam the federal Russia investigation or other issues. Other times, his staff would turn to roads and bridges and tunnels when the boss would find himself in another self-made crisis.
Rebuilding America’s aging infrastructure was a major part of then-candidate Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign trail message, saying it was necessary to compete with China and other thriving economies that already made such investments.
The 45th president presented only one plan. However, it was roundly dismissed by Democrats and his GOP colleagues alike on the same day, just before his press aides handed out a one-page summary to reporters at a midday briefing.
“They announced infrastructure week,” Biden said. “And they announced it, and announced it, and announced it, and announced it. Every week for four years. Didn’t do a damn thing. They didn’t get the job done.”
Early in his remarks, Biden recalled growing up in Delaware with a father who managed automobile dealerships.
“I’m Joe Biden, and I’m a car guy,” he introduced himself.
Biden was in Michigan to preview Ford’s new F-150 Lightning electric truck, a model which will be assembled by United Auto Workers union members.
“I’d sure like to drive it. I wonder whether or not I can lose the Secret Service, and go out to the track,” he quipped.
En route aboard Air Force One, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was needled by reporters about the irony of Biden traveling in “a huge gasoline motorcade to visit an electric car.”
“I think it’s going to take some time to continue to grow the electric vehicle industry in our country,” she said. “That’s why the president believes there needs to be a historic investment. And certainly, he’s talked about what we can do from the federal fleet as well, and we can see if there’s more of an update from [The Department of Transportation] on the timeline for that.”
Psaki also defended the White House from criticism regarding the fallout for jobs related to combustion engines.
“This is about creating jobs in Michigan. It’s also about competing globally. And it’s about making clear that we’re not going to stand by and let our workforce be behind China,” she said.
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In his $2.25 trillion infrastructure-plus plan, Biden has proposed spending $174 billion on the electric vehicle market, including the domestic supply chain and manufacturing, as well as point-of-sale rebates and tax incentives. Republicans are expected to circulate another counteroffer this week after putting an initial $568 billion compromise on the table last month.
