No evidence that the Build Back Better bill would be financial boon to Chinese companies

President Joe Biden was attacked in three Facebook ads that claimed his Build Back Better bill would enrich China financially through trade. 

The ads were run by Stand Up To China, a Tampa, Florida-based advocacy group. 

Taken together, the ads claimed that the legislation "would be a huge payday for Chinese manufacturing" and "would fill our streets with cars made with Chinese parts."

James Andrew Lewis, a senior vice president at the centrist Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the group's claim is "playing fast and loose with words." He is a former diplomat who directs the center’s Strategic Technologies Program.

"When you buy an iPhone, most of the money goes to Apple but about 6 cents on the dollar goes to Chinese companies that do assembly or make parts. So does buying an iPhone help China?" 

David Dollar, an expert on China’s economy at the centrist Brookings Institution, said that none of the financing in the Build Back Better Act that passed the House goes to China. It is targeted to pre-K education, child care, health care, housing and clean energy, he said.

The House approved a version of the Build Back Better Act in November. No action has been taken in the Senate. The House version of the bill would spend $1.75 trillion over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. 

Provisions include $400 billion to fund child care and preschool, $200 billion for child tax credits and $200 billion for four weeks of paid family and medical leave.

Saying that the bill would be a huge payday for Chinese manufacturing "is a wild exaggeration," said Derek Scissors, an expert on the Chinese economy at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

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"Chinese statistical authorities put the value-added of Chinese manufacturing at $4.9 trillion last year. That is probably inflated, but $4.3 trillion is a reasonable floor," he said. "Any benefits for China from Build Back Better would hardly be noticeable in comparison."

About $555 billion in Build Back Better would fight climate change.

More cars in the U.S. made with Chinese-made parts is possible, but far from certain, Scissors said.

"If the U.S. wants to do green car production at the lowest possible cost, Chinese-subsidized parts would go into those cars," Scissors said. 

"Of course, since we don't yet know what Build Beck Better actually is," he said, noting no final legislation has been adopted, "we could choose not to focus on cars or we could accept higher costs for the sake of not depending on China for parts."

Stand Up To China did not respond to a phone message we left.

The Stand Up To China group claimed that the Build Back Better legislation "would be a huge payday for Chinese manufacturing" and "would fill our streets with cars made with Chinese parts."

Experts said there is no evidence that the bill would be a financial boon to China. Most of its spending is aimed at domestic priorities, including child care and child tax credits.

We rate the statement False.