WASHINGTON, June 23, 2023 – The Commerce Department on Friday announced a funding opportunity and application process to fund large semiconductor supply chain projects.
The funding opportunity is an expansion of the first funding opportunity from the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 which seeks applications for projects to construct, expand, or modernize commercial facilities for the production of leading-edge semiconductors. The same funding opportunity is now open to materials and manufacturing equipment facility projects with capital investments equal to or exceeding $300 million, read the press release.
Don’t miss the discussion of the connection between green energy, semiconductor manufacturing and infrastructure investment at Broadband Breakfast’s Made in America Summit on June 27.
The $280 billion CHIPS Act seeks to revitalize the U.S. semiconductor industry as part of President Joe Biden’s economic plan to invest in America, stimulate private sector investment, create good-paying jobs and manufacture more in the U.S.
“The CHIPS and Science Act presents a historic opportunity to unleash the next generation of American innovation, protect our national security, and preserve our global economic competitiveness,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in a statement.
Since announcing the first funding opportunity, Commerce has received nearly 400 statements of interest from companies seeking to build semiconductor projects across 37 states, reported the press release.
“The recently released funding opportunity also maintains the Department’s emphasis on building the construction and facility workforce that will support resilient domestic supply chains, including through partnerships with labor, educational institutions, workforce development organizations, and others,” read the press release.
The announcement leads into the Biden administrations investing in America tour in which Secretary Raimondo and leaders in the administration will visit more than 20 states to highlight economic opportunity driven by Biden’s investing in America agenda.
How the CHIPS Act Took Center Stage of Biden’s Re-industrialization Agenda
The increasingly hostile technology race between the United States and China now revolves around the key to the modern economy: semiconductors. Semiconductors are the microprocessors that power smartphones and washing machines and automobiles. Indeed, these chips are needed in advanced weaponry and artificial intelligence. That places them at the focal point of international tension.
Simply put, semiconductors are the world’s new oil.
And, as both President Joe Biden and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo have been quick to note, American ingenuity invented the semiconductor. But today, the U.S. currently produces only 12 percent of the world’s supply, none of which are the most advanced. This is down from 40 percent in 1990.
The technology and machinery needed to create the most advanced semiconductor chips is so complex and sophisticated that the world’s supply is manufactured by only a handful of companies.
Taiwan hosts the world’s largest producer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. It manufactures chips for leading chip design companies, including Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm and Broadcom. TMSC alone accounts for around 60 percent of the global market for semiconductors, and more than 90 percent of the most advanced ones.
This is especially concerning for America’s national security in light of the mounting threat that Taiwan appears to face from its neighbor, the People’s Republic of China. The PRC itself hosts almost 300 semiconductor manufacturing plants, and China has launched initiatives of its own to invest in domestic production through the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund. Established in 2014, this fund was aimed at achieving self-sufficiency for China in the semiconductor industry.
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