Congress Approves Bill To Help United States Compete With China

On a bipartisan 64-33 vote on July 27, the U.S. Senate approved the CHIPS-Plus Act, legislation that will materially advance U.S. production of semiconductors and enhance U.S. science and technology leadership to better compete globally with countries like China. The U.S. House approved the bill a day later, sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature.

As the National Association of Manufacturers explains, this bill includes:

• $52 billion for semiconductor research and manufacturing incentives;
• $9 billion to strengthen the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnerships and cybersecurity, and manufacturing research institutes;
• A temporary 25 percent advanced manufacturing investment tax credit for certain investments related to semiconductor manufacturing;
• Funding to create a new U.S. Department of Energy Regional Clean Energy Innovation Program that will spur clean energy innovation;
• Resources to create a Critical Minerals Subcommittee within NIST to help coordinate critical minerals research programs.

As National Public Radio reported, the Congressional Research Service has found nearly four-fifths of global fabrication capacity was in Asia as of 2019.

“We used to make 40 percent of the world’s chips, we make about 12 percent now,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said. “The reality is, while we have invested nothing to spur domestic chip manufacturing, China has invested more than $150 billion to build their own domestic capacity.”