Thursday, April 18, 2024
Thursday, April 18, 2024
President Biden met with the chief executives of 19 U.S. firms today to tout his plan to invest $50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing and research as part of a sweeping infrastructure proposal.
"I've been saying for some time now, China and the rest of the world is not waiting," Biden said during a virtual "CEO Summit on Semiconductor and Supply Chain Resilience" at the White House. "And there's no reason why Americans should wait. We're investing aggressively in areas like semiconductors and batteries, that's what they're doing and others. So must we."
As part of a $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, Biden is urging Congress to appropriate $50 billion for a set of semiconductor manufacturing programs authorized, but not funded, under the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act (CHIPS Act). The legislation was passed as part of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
The push for boosting U.S. chip manufacturing comes in the wake of COVID-19's rattling of global supply chains. Lawmakers are also concerned about China's plans to become a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing.
Adding to the urgency is a global shortage of chips that has forced U.S. auto manufacturers and other sectors to slash production this year.
"These chips, these wafers, batteries, broadband, are all infrastructure," Biden said. "This is infrastructure. So look, we need to build infrastructure of today, not repair the one of yesterday."
According to the White House pool report, the individuals involved in today's meeting were: