Biden set to sign bill to boost US chips production

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to sign a bill providing USD 52.7 billion in subsidies to boost efforts in U.S. semiconductor research and production and rise in competition with China’s science and technology efforts.

The White House is planning to invest in chip manufacturing companies that will receive grant awards once the Commerce Department clears the rules and regulations to underwrite projects. The legislation will authorise USD 200 billion for 10 years in scientific research after passing separate legislation for investments.

With Qualcomm agreeing to buy an additional USD 4.2 billion in semiconductor chips from GlobalFoundries’ New York Factory, the White House claims that the bill’s passage will bring in total commitments to USD 7.4 billion in chip investment purchases through 2028.

Additionally, Micron also announced that it is investing USD 40 billion in memory chips manufacturing. This would boost U.S. market share from 2 per cent to 10 per cent.

The chief executives of Intel, Micron, HP, AMD, and Lockheed Martin are attending the signing along with cabinet officials, auto industry leaders, and union leaders including United Auto Workers President Ray Curry. The governors of Illinois and Pennsylvania with the mayors of Detroit, Cleveland and Salt Lake City will be present along with several other lawmakers.

The legislation comes after massive reportage of shortage of chips halting the production of cars, trucks, weapons, washing machines and video games. Nearly 25% investment of tax credit is paved for chip plants, amounting to USD 24 billion.

Citing national security concerns, many U.S. lawmakers supported the huge subsidies into private business. The Chinese Embassy in Washington lobbied against the bill, calling it “Cold War mentality”.