President Joe Biden says 'Made in America' is his top priority

File image of US President Joe Biden (Image: Reuters)

US President Joe Biden has said that 'Made in America' is the top priority of his administration and announced that bridges, roads and highways in the country will be made with American construction materials.

Joe Biden in his second State of the Union Address on Tuesday said to maintain the strongest economy in the world, the US also needs the best infrastructure in the world.

The US used to be number 1 in the world in infrastructure, but then it fell to number 13th, he said.

"Now we're coming back because we came together to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest investment in infrastructure since President Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System," he said.

He said 'Buy American' has been the law of the land since 1933.

"But for too long, past administrations have found ways to get around it. Not anymore," Biden said in his joint address to the US Congress.

"Tonight, I'm also announcing new standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America. American-made lumber, glass, drywall, fiber optic cables," he said.

He said under his watch, American roads, bridges and highways will be made with American products.

Biden asserted that his economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten.

Amid the economic upheaval of the past four decades, too many people have been left behind or treated like they're invisible, he noted.

"Maybe that's you, watching at home. You remember the jobs that went away. And you wonder whether a path even exists anymore for you and your children to get ahead without moving away. I get it," he said.

That's why, Biden asserted, that his administration is building an economy where no one is left behind.

"Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back, because of the choices we made in the last two years. This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives," he said.

Biden asserted that manufacturing has been one of the top priorities of his administration.

"For too many decades, we imported products and exported jobs. Now, thanks to all we've done, we're exporting American products and creating American jobs," he said.

"Inflation has been a global problem because of the pandemic that disrupted supply chains and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war (against Ukraine) that disrupted energy and food supplies," Biden said.

But the United States is better positioned than any country on Earth, he insisted.

Acknowledging that his administration has more to do, "but here at home, inflation is coming down", he said.

The gas prices are down USD 1.50 a gallon since their peak. Food inflation is coming down, he said.

Inflation has fallen every month for the last six months while take-home pay has gone up, he added.

Biden said that his administration is making sure the supply chain for America begins in America. "We've already created 800,000 manufacturing jobs even without this law. With this new law, we will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs across the country," he said.

"That's going to come from companies that have announced more than $300 billion in investments in American manufacturing in the last two years," Biden said, adding that outside of Columbus, Ohio, Intel is building semiconductor factories on a thousand acres a literal field of dreams. This will create 10,000 jobs.