Joe Biden on Monday urged Congress to pass legislation “as soon as possible” that provides $52 billion to support semiconductor production in the United States.
“The United States invented semiconductors, but over time we let production go abroad,” lamented the American president in front of economic and union officials. For him, it is “imperative” – for economic reasons, but also of national security – that the United States manufacture again these electronic parts present in many objects of daily life.
Demand for these chips has exploded during the pandemic, leading to a shortage exacerbated by the closure of factories in China due to the resurgence of COVID-19. In this context, “Congress must adopt this law as soon as possible,” said the Democratic president.
It is “vital” that it be presented to the president for ratification “as early as this week”, added his Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo. “America’s reliance on a small number of factories overseas is dangerous,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also said.
Parliamentary deadlock
Elected Republicans and Democrats agree on the finding, but have been struggling for months to agree on a final text. The House of Representatives adopted in February a broader text intended to strengthen US industry in the face of competition from Asia, particularly in the semiconductor sector. A comparable bill was passed by the Senate in March. But the two assemblies of Congress did not agree on a common text. The Senate recently began working on a text limited solely to the issue of semiconductors, called Crisps more. He took an important procedural step last week.
So, more than a year after passing its first version of a bill boosting semiconductor competition with China, the US Senate has been considering a slimmed down version of the legislation. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called U.S. semiconductor manufacturing a national security issue and a source of jobs. “The message isn’t subtle: if companies don’t think it’s profitable to make chips here in America, they’ll go elsewhere,” Schumer said as he opened the Senate last Monday.
In a text from the Reuters agency, it is recalled that in June 2021, the Senate had approved a bipartisan bill of 250 billion dollars aimed at increasing spending on research and technological development, one of the first Important pieces of legislation passed after the Democrats took tight control of the upper house.
However, that was never picked up by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, which earlier this year passed its own bill, with almost no Republican support. That measure included provisions to boost chipmakers, but also billions of dollars for other supply chains and the Global Climate Change Initiative, which Republicans oppose.
Semiconductors are ubiquitous in everyday life. Mainly made in Asia, they are essential for the manufacture of cars, smart phones and medical equipment, among others. With the pandemic, manufacturers have seen these reserves of chips melt to an alarming level.
With Duty