President Biden on Tuesday touted the plans for Honda to build a joint-venture battery factory in Ohio, saying new investments are part of the backbone of his economic agenda.
“Just as my CHIPS and Science Act is spurring record investments in communities across the country, my Inflation Reduction Act is driving a manufacturing boom for electric vehicles. This has been the backbone of my economic plan: America is leading the world again, rebuilding our supply chains, infrastructure, and manufacturing here at home,” Biden said in a statement.
Honda will team up with LG Energy Solution of South Korea to build the $3.5 billion battery factory as a joint-venture southern Ohio. The factory is expected to employ 2,200 people.
Additionally, Honda announced it will invest $700 million and add 300 jobs to three of its Ohio factories so they can start manufacturing electric vehicles.
The president last month visited the groundbreaking of a new Intel factory in Ohio and also tied the investment directly to the CHIPS Act, which he signed into law last month to boost investments in semiconductor chips.
“As I said at the groundbreaking of Intel’s Ohio factory last month: it’s time to bury the label ‘Rust Belt,’ ” he said.
Biden last month suggested the area that includes the new Ohio factory should be called the “Silicon Heartland” instead of the “Rust Belt.”