President Joe Biden touted the administration's economic achievements in a Virginia speech, while bashing Republicans for their handling of the nation's debt ceiling.
The Thursday speech followed the release of the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers showing the U.S. economy expanded at a 2.9 percent annual pace in the last quarter, from October to December, slightly better than expected.
"I'm not sure the news could have been better. Economic growth is up, stronger than experts expected," Biden said of the report. "Jobs are the highest in American history. And wages are up, and they're going faster than inflation."
"Over the past six months, inflation has gone down every month, and God willing, we'll continue to do that," Biden said.
The President also took the opportunity to criticize the opposition party for its position on the debt ceiling. Republicans have said they would be willing to raise the nation's debt limit in exchange for spending cuts. But Democrats led by President Biden have maintained they would not make this sort of concession.
"I will not let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip," President Biden said in his speech."I'm not going to get into the reckless threats that take the economy hostage in order to force an agenda that's going to only limit American workers and weaken us internationally."
"I won't let that happen," Biden added.
The Treasury Department implemented extraordinary measures after the U.S. hit its debt limit last Thursday. Those measures are expected to last only until June, at which point Congress will have had to act to avoid a default.
American businesses that rely on Chinese goods are reacting with muted relief after the U.S. and China agreed to pause their exorbitant tariffs on each other’s products for 90 days. Many companies delayed or canceled orders after President Donald Trump last month put a 145% tariff on items made in China. Importers still face relatively high tariffs, however, as well as uncertainty over what will happen in the coming weeks and months. The temporary truce was announced as retailers and their suppliers are looking to finalize their plans and orders for the holiday shopping season. They’re concerned a mad scramble to get goods onto ships will lead to bottlenecks and increased shipping costs.
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