The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to increase chip production in the United States and facilitate it supply chain problems amid global chip shortages. All that remains is for Congress to reconcile it with a similar bill passed by the Senate last year to send the bill to the White House.
The COMPETITION law was passed in the House by 222-210 party votes on Friday, with one Republican in favor and one Democrat against the bill. Called the Chinese Competition Bill, the COMPETES Act offers economic stimulus, including $ 52 billion to fund semiconductor production in the United States, to start weaning the country off its dependence on chip production in China.
Read more: How global chip shortages are helping US manufacturing
The bill provides $ 39 billion in subsidies to fund new semiconductor production facilities, including those already under construction, such as the plant that chipmaker Apple and Qualcomm TSMC has I’m preparing in Arizona. Although many of these facilities will not start production for years, more local production could help reduce the global shortage of chips that has affected many industries.
President Biden’s office praised the passage of the House of Representatives bill, which now needs to be aligned with the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), passed in the Senate in June 2021. USICA has a similar $ 52 billion funding target. although only $ 10 billion has been earmarked to fund the construction.
Other chip factories planned for the United States – and potentially eligible for funding – include Samsung A $ 17 billion chip factory in Texas and Intel A $ 100 billion megafab plant in Ohio.