LIVE: Biden Delivers Remarks at Ford Plant in Dearborn, Michigan

President Joe Biden’s visit to a Ford Motor Co. plant in Michigan on Tuesday will highlight his $174 billion proposal to transform the automobile industry, even as a global chip shortage hinders production.

Biden will get a sneak peek at the F-150 Lightning -- an all-electric version of the pickup that has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. since the Reagan administration -- during his visit to Ford’s new Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn.

Ford has heralded the new model, which is to go on sale next year, as a turning point in the electric-vehicle revolution. The White House hopes the rollout can strengthen Biden’s push to spend billions of dollars on tax credits and charging stations to support a broader and faster transition from gas-powered cars.

The ultra-popular pickup is in many ways an ideal opportunity for Biden to paint his infrastructure effort as a boon for the middle class. The F-150, which generates $42 billion a year in revenue, sells strongest in red states, with Texas being its No. 1 market -- an image that helps counter lingering perceptions that electric vehicles are largely the purview of coastal elites.

“He’s long believed we should do everything we can from the U.S. government to support this industry which is the backbone of many communities, including Michigan, in our country,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One. “The future of the industry is electric, everyone will tell you that. The president believes the United States should be a larger percentage of the market than they are at this point, that China should not have the larger percentage of the market than the United States.”

The new truck will be built by union laborers at the new 500,000 square-foot facility, where the company says it expects to spend $700 million and create 300 jobs. Biden’s infrastructure program includes grants for upgrading and reopening facilities, low-cost credit to manufacturers who domestically produce clean energy vehicles, and would spend $15 billion installing half a million public chargers and $100 billion on customer rebates for electric vehicle purchases.

“The fact that he’s coming shows the commitment and the interest that our government has in the electrification of the auto industry,” Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford told a shareholder meeting last Thursday. “And the fact that we’re taking America’s favorite vehicle, and has been for many years, and we’re electrifying it, really is a huge exclamation point. And that certainly hasn’t been lost on anyone, including the president of the United States.”

But Biden’s visit to the plant to promote emerging technology comes as a global semiconductor shortage is hobbling the auto industry. A new estimate last week said the cost to automakers could reach $110 billion.

Ford said the shortage of chips will cut its production in half in the second quarter and cost the company $2.5 billion in earnings this year. Ford has built 22,000 vehicles without semiconductors -- including thousands of F-150 pickups -- and parked them in lots waiting for the chips to arrive. The company predicted the shortage would reduce production by 1.1 million vehicles this year.

The shortage has affected automakers and slowed production across the globe, including Chinese electric vehicle start-ups like Xpeng Inc. and Nio Inc. seeking to compete with U.S.-based Tesla Inc.

The Biden administration has said it intends to move more semiconductor manufacturing to the U.S. amid the crisis, while acknowledging supply issues are likely to last for months. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will hold a summit on Thursday with companies affected by the shortage, including Ford.

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