Communications of the ACM
Chip Investment Decisions Await Congressional Action on $52 Billion Funding Bill
American chip-making capacity has fallen to 12% of the world’s total, from 37% in 1990.
Credit: Caitlin Ochs/The Wall Street Journal
Political wrangling in Congress over government funding for the semiconductor industry is leaving tens of billions of dollars of potential factory projects hanging in limbo and could dent the ambitions of some political and industry leaders to recharge America's chip-making prowess.
Numerous companies are waiting for Congress to pass a $52 billion incentive package for chip production and research before committing to significant expansion efforts, according to company executives and funding proposal documents. The expansion plans anticipated getting part of their funding from the subsidy package, which early on had bipartisan support in Congress and has been backed by the Biden administration.
Those planned facilities would come on top of around $50 billion of plant investments already announced over the past two years as the industry scales up to satisfy increasing demand. Critics of government funding for the semiconductor makers say the industry is taking advantage of the chip shortage and that companies would have moved ahead with U.S. projects without subsidies.
From The Wall Street Journal
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