On Friday, February 4, U.S. lawmakers passed a bill dubbed America Competes. With this 2,900-page text, the idea is to stimulate the manufacture of semiconductors on United States soil from 2022. The country of Uncle Sam wants catch up on China.
A bill that provides 352 billion for the industry
This bill aims to give the means to American companies to accelerate both the manufacture of semiconductors, but also research and development. Legislators propose to allocate 52 billion dollars for manufacturing and 300 billion for research and development. Never had such financial support been granted before. If this bill passes, it will undoubtedly be the most outspoken move by the United States to rival the recent technological and industrial dominance of China.
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Nevertheless, the New York Times considers it unlikely that the text will be adopted in its current version. Republicans don’t quite agree with parts of the bill. The latter provides $8 billion for “green funds”, those who fight to protect the climate. An initiative that is rooted in the Paris agreement, to help developing countries deal with the crisis. Republicans are not in favor of it. They also claim that the bill is not effective enough to hold China accountable on this matter.
Democrats and Republicans agree on spending more to support semiconductor production
Democrats and Republicans, on the other hand, seem to agree on one point: they believe that the government must spend more money to support domestic semiconductor production. Intel recently announced the construction of a $20 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in Ohio. The American company specified that if Congress votes for additional support for the industry, it could invest up to $100 billion in the factory over the next decade.
Joe Biden and his troops will support this bill to try to pass it. The US president considers the lack of domestic production of chips to be a very important security issue. Global semiconductor shortages have also played an important role fueling inflation in recent months. The legislation must now pass the House and Senate before President Biden can sign it into law. The president urged lawmakers to act quickly, saying that “America can’t afford to wait”.