GM, Ford asked by Biden to help support stalled Build Back Better bill

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden on Wednesday sought to revive his stalled economic plan, Build Back Better, hosting corporate executives at the White House who support the legislation.

“A lot of folks refer to this as just social spending,” Biden said at the event. “I see it this way: The Build Back Better plan lowers prices for families and gets people working. It creates the best educated workforce, hopefully in the world, and ensures we remain the most dynamic and productive economy in the world.”

He was flanked by the CEOs of General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Microsoft Corp. and pension giant TIAA, among others. All of the companies in attendance support the Build Back Better legislation -- though not every part of it -- and came to the White House because they believe its benefits outweigh the costs, a White House official said.

While negotiations on Capitol Hill hit a dead end after U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., came out against the bill in December, the president said he will continue to fight for the plan. The White House says discussions have continued at a staff level despite the public blow-up last month.

Biden last week conceded the existing bill would have to be broken up into smaller parts to gain support from all 50 Democrats in the Senate. He didn’t specify which elements of the legislation he’ll focus on passing first.

“I’m confident we can get pieces --  big chunks of the Build Back Better law signed into law,” he said at a Jan. 19 news conference.

Ford CEO Jim Farley said in an interview Tuesday, before participating in the White House meeting, that he would urge Biden to retain tax credits for electric vehicles included in the initial legislation.

“We are so far behind,” Farley said. EVs comprised only about 2 percent of U.S. car purchases in 2021, compared to nearlyad 20 percent in Europe, and China now buys half of all EVs produced in the world.  

“I’m very concerned about the country’s competitiveness if the country doesn’t do what other countries have done, which is put their foot on the scale of economics with incentives between $7,000 and $10,000 per vehicle,” Farley said. “That’s what it’s going to take.”