Biden: "The Future of the Auto Industry is Electric Cars... We Cannot Lose to China"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] U.S. President Joe Biden said on the 18th (local time), "The future of the automobile industry is electric vehicles. This is irreversible."

According to CBS News and others, President Biden attended a briefing on the launch of the F-150 pickup electric vehicle held at the Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, emphasizing the necessity of passing the $2 trillion infrastructure bill.

He stated, "Currently, China is leading this race," and emphasized, "China is the largest and fastest-growing electric vehicle market in the world, and the core component of electric vehicles is the battery."

He continued, "China has a larger manufacturing scale than any other country. They produce batteries not only in China but also in Germany and Mexico, exporting electric vehicles to markets including the United States," he pointed out.

He stressed that although the U.S. invested heavily in research and development in the past when China was ranked ninth, now China is first and the U.S. is eighth, and this cannot be allowed to continue. He also criticized the previous Donald Trump administration for not focusing on electric vehicle development.

President Biden's speech on this day was to highlight the necessity of passing the $2 trillion infrastructure bill. The restructuring of the industrial system toward eco-friendliness is a core agenda of President Biden, and the infrastructure bill he proposed includes incentives to promote the transition to electric vehicles.

At the summit with President Moon Jae-in at the White House three days later, cooperation plans in new industries such as electric vehicle batteries and semiconductors are expected to be the main agenda. The global market share of three Korean battery companies in the first quarter of this year is approaching 31%.

The Republican Party opposes the infrastructure bill, arguing that its scale is too large and that raising funds through tax increases is unacceptable. President Biden has expressed willingness to negotiate, but differences have been difficult to narrow.