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.
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
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INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
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