The visit comes as Congress begins discussions on the president's $2 trillion jobs and infrastructure package, which includes $174 billion to support the growth of U.S. electric vehicle manufacturing. Analysts say it also highlights a project that is a model of what the administration hopes to incentivize: mass market electric vehicles built in the U.S. by union workers.
The president plans to visit the new electric vehicle manufacturing center in the historic Rouge complex and is expected to receive a technical rundown of the vehicle from Ford engineers. Then he'll deliver remarks, likely on his policy priorities for developing electric vehicles while protecting jobs.
Joining Biden in his visit will be Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, UAW President Rory Gamble and several Democratic members of the Michigan delegation, including Debbie Dingell of Dearborn, Elissa Slotkin of Holly, Brenda Lawrence of Southfield, Andy Levin of Bloomfield Township, Dan Kildee of Flint Township and Haley Stevens of Rochester Hills, their offices told The News.
Biden's sweeping infrastructure proposal aims to build a network of a half million charging stations nationwide; expand and implement new consumer incentives to buy affordable EVs; fund grants for retooling factories; provide tax credits for building EVs, including medium- and heavy-duty vehicles; subsidize research and development of new technology; incentivize building battery and semiconductor factories in the U.S., and more.
The goal is to spark a takeoff of the American electric vehicle market, which now accounts for less than 2% of new car sales, with the eventual aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to help reach a goal of cutting emissions in half by 2030 and net-zero economy-wide by 2050.
The jobs issue is expected to be front and center during Biden's visit Tuesday: While the United Auto Workers supports the move to accelerate development of electric vehicles, it has repeatedly raised concerns about its potential impact on jobs. Electric vehicles require fewer parts and less labor to assemble, and new jobs in supporting sectors — such as joint battery ventures, suppliers and EV startups — are much less likely to be unionized.
"We need to be intentional about making sure that we are keeping the supply chain here in the U.S., that we're going to build batteries here in the United States of America, with good-paying union jobs," said Dingell.
UAW Local 600, which represents Rouge Complex workers, is one of the union's oldest, she said. "So we're highlighting the work and the talent of UAW workers, of American workers, and we need to be very intentional and intersectional as we look toward the future where we all care about the environment."
She expects the president to speak directly to workers Tuesday to reassure them that lawmakers are balancing environmental goals with policies that shore up domestic jobs and supply chains.
"I'm excited to hear him talk about the supply chain," Stevens said. Biden signed an executive order to prioritize review of supply chains, including for electric vehicle batteries and semiconductor chips.
"I'm calling on the administration to map the supply chain for the battery so we can go after and attract those jobs here in Michigan and diversify our small- and mid-sized manufacturers to make all the parts that go into electric vehicles."
The U.S. makes around 12% of the world's chips and is home to only four lithium-ion battery factories, compared with 93 in China.
Republicans in Congress have raised concerns that the push to electrification forces electric vehicles on consumers who aren't asking for them and have argued the transition should be left up to the free market. Some have argued for a more pared-down infrastructure package that would focus on traditional infrastructure and cost up to $800 billion.
Biden's trip will be his second to Michigan since taking office in January. He visited the Pfizer plant in Portage that manufactures the COVID-19 vaccine. The visit also comes around a year after former President Donald Trump visited Ford's Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti, which was producing ventilators to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
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