Congressmen were negotiating on Wednesday a bill supposed to make the United States more competitive with China by locating on American territory the manufacture of essential products, such as semiconductors.
The Biden administration is urging elected officials to act urgently on this issue, assuring that manufacturers have seen their semiconductor reserves melt to an alarming level.
These computer chips are essential for a large number of sectors and products ranging from cars and smartphones to medical equipment and even vacuum cleaners.
The “America COMPETES act” was presented to the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening. In particular, it provides 52 billion dollars to revitalize the American semiconductor industry.
The law will “help bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States” and “reignite our economy’s innovation engine to outperform China and the rest of the world for decades to come,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday. evening.
China, which has been at economic war with the United States since the Trump era, is one of the rare subjects on which the Democratic president is in line with his Republican predecessor.
A similar text had already been adopted in the Senate in June, voted on by elected officials from both parties. But a parliamentary shuttle will most likely be needed to harmonize the two texts, which is why the Biden administration does not want to waste time.
Moving quickly on this legislation would also be a way for Joe Biden to score a victory, which he desperately needs in view of his plummeting popularity ratings.
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