U.S. President Joe Biden said a corporate tax rate between 25 and 28 percent could help pay for badly needed infrastructure, suggesting he could accept a lower rate than what he has proposed in his search for Republican support for the funding.

"The way I can pay for this, is making sure that the largest companies don't pay zero, and reducing the [2017 corporate] tax cut to between 25 and 28 percent," Biden said during a visit to Lake Charles, Louisiana.

In his $2.3-trillion infrastructure plan, the Democratic president initially proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28 percent.

The U.S. corporate tax rate dropped to 21 percent from 35 percent after the 2017 tax cut pushed by then-President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans, but many big U.S. companies pay much less.

Biden's push to spend more federal money on schools, roads, job training and other public works, and to tax the wealthiest Americans and companies to pay for it, is popular with voters of both parties. But the plans face stiff opposition from Republican lawmakers.

Congressional Republicans oppose Biden's proposed infrastructure spending, citing higher taxes levied on corporations would cost jobs and slow the economy.

Some Republicans have offered a far smaller package: $568 billion, focused on roads, bridges, broadband access and drinking water improvements. However, much of that reflects money the federal government is already expected to spend for that infrastructure.

(With input from Reuters)