Biden knew all of this. Why do it, then?

The answer is as usual: because this is how US imperialism operates. This is how they landed after decades of political practice in imperialism and this is what earned them the hegemony. Remember that US isn't the secret cabal operating in a small room and deciding everything with pushing sliders like in computer game. It's an ossified bureocracy with incredible inertia which not only can't just change its course, but it can't even institutionally devise any alternative to the good old methods of intensifying exploitation because it has all of the equally ossified influence groups behind them which aren't interested in anything that could intentionally decrease the profits. Especially in fastly changing world. They will be of course eventually forced to do it, but it will be too late and too little.

Note how even centrally planned economies had huge prolems with changes. Those that still exist managed it when USSR destruction radically changed the world 30 years ago, but the cost was great.