On Thursday, the Biden management unveiled additional revelations about its plans to obtain the greatest bang for its buck to boost the semiconductor industry in the United States. The formation of at least two electronics manufacturing and study hubs in the United States is the centrepiece of the plans, which Treasury Secretary Gina Raimondo outlined in a speech. These sites, she hopes, will create new production and academic achievement in the United States, as well as supply chains, generating traction for the industry regardless of when government funding runs out.
“I would like to speak about the vision,” Raimondo said at the start of her speech, contrasting the effort to pivotal moments in American history. “The CHIPS and Science Act gives us a chance to invest money that are equally important for our country’s future,” Raimondo spoke at Georgetown University as she relocated on to the next stage of her monumental task of allocating approximately $50 billion in government funds to stimulate semiconductor production and research in the coming years. When President Biden approved the CHIPs and Scientific research Act into law in 2022, the money was approved.
The speech follows several months of vigorous lobbying by the semiconductor industry. Companies such as Intel, Micron, IBM, and even Taiwan’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Company have received visits from President Biden to tout the development of new U.S. plants in the works — and they appear well positioned to capture a sizable portion of the upcoming windfall.
Meanwhile, Raimondo and other authorities have promised that the funds will be distributed across the sector to companies of all sizes. “Everyone is going to be curious about how much money Intel and Samsung are getting,” she said during her remarks, pledging answers in the coming weeks.
Instead, the Commerce Secretary focused on America’s national security implications and the design of the semiconductor fabrication seedlings and research facilities. In a statement to Yahoo Finance, Intel’s Vice President of US Government Relations Allen Thompson commended the rollout and this week’s emphasis on developing semiconductor ecosystems, calling the law “the most serious competition policy in our creation.” He also stated that since the law’s passage, his company has announced $43.5 billion in investments in its US operations.
The overall goal is for the United States to supplant Taiwan, South Korea, and China as the “premier destination in the world” for the sector, according to Raimondo. “Every chip company is going to require presence in the United States of America long after the rebate runs out because they will have to be interested in being here because we will have built that ecosystem,” she said during a press conference.