Advertisement
The View | How Biden’s ‘build back better’ plan takes a page out of China’s playbook
- Biden’s government clearly intends to play a big role in expanding US industry, and learning from China can be a better way to view the great power contest
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
22
US President Joe Biden inherited much from Donald Trump – including trade tariffs, sanctions on Chinese tech companies and curbs on exports of core technology – yet he is clearly following a different track.
Advertisement
While Trump was obsessed with containing and weakening China, Biden is aware that the real issues are domestic. His team has said more than once that domestic issues need to be addressed and US competitiveness enhanced to fight China’s growing clout.
On March 31, Biden unveiled a US$2 trillion plan to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure and bolster the post-pandemic economy over eight years, to be funded largely by higher corporate taxes.
In a conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Biden suggested that democratic countries should have an infrastructure plan akin to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which should benefit “those communities around the world that need help”.
A US national security commission recently proposed an integrated national strategy to better compete with China in the arena of artificial intelligence.
02:50
Biden says China won't become ‘the most powerful country’ on his watch
Biden says China won't become ‘the most powerful country’ on his watch
The plan outlined the need to rebuild the domestic chip supply chain, stay at least two generations ahead of China in microelectronics, and gradually increase investment to US$32 billion per year for the US to win the AI race. Biden has since ordered a review of US semiconductor supply chains.
Advertisement