Republicans’ ideas for cutting the US budget could undermine manufacturing and help China dominate the world economy, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a semiconductor maker in North Carolina to highlight his own policies, Biden is trying to shape public sentiment as he faces off with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy about whether the federal government should increase its borrowing capacity.
McCarthy sent a letter saying that negotiations should start about possible spending cuts in return for the debt limit increase.
Photo: Bloomberg
Biden has said that Republicans need to put forth their own budget plan before negotiations start.
Without an agreement, the federal government could default on its financial obligations.
Republican demands on the budget would only empower China, the country’s key geopolitical rival, Biden said.
“It would mean ceding the future of innovation and technology to China,” Biden said.
“I’ve got news for you and for MAGA Republicans in Congress: Not on my watch,” he said, referring to the “Make America Great Again” slogan of former US president Donald Trump. “We’re not going to let them undo all the progress we made.”
Biden’s trip to Wolfspeed follows the Durham-based company announcing plans in September last year to build a US$5 billion manufacturing facility in Chatham County that is expected to create 1,800 new jobs.
Separately, Biden was to open the Summit for Democracy in Washington with a pledge for the US to spend US$690 million bolstering democracy programs around the globe.
The administration said it wants to use the two-day summit, which was to begin yesterday, to zero in on making “technology work for and not against democracy,” a senior administration official said.
The new funding would focus on programs that support free and independent media, combat corruption, bolster human rights, advance technology that improves democracy, and support free and fair elections, said the official, who previewed the summit on the condition of anonymity.
The administration has also come to an agreement with 10 other nations on guiding principles for how the governments should use surveillance technology, the official added.
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