House passes bill to jumpstart US chip manufacturing

    The US Capitol Building.
    Getty Images
    

    The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to ramp up chip manufacturing in the US and ease supply chain woes amid the global chip shortage. All that’s left is for Congress to reconcile it with a similar bill passed by the Senate last year to get legislation to the White House.
    The COMPETES Act passed in the House in a 222-210 vote along party lines on Friday, with one Republican in favor and one Democrat against the legislation. Colloquially called the “China competition” bill, the COMPETES Act offers economic stimulation including $52 billion to fund semiconductor manufacturing in the US to start weaning the country off dependence on chip fabrication in China.
    Read more:?How the global chip shortage is helping US manufacturing
    The bill provides $39 billion in subsidies to fund new semiconductor fabrication facilities, including those already being built, like the plant that Apple and Qualcomm chip manufacturer TSMC is getting ready in Arizona. While many of these facilities wouldn’t start production for years, more local production could help reduce the global chip shortage that has affected many industries.
    President Biden’s office lauded the passing of the House bill, which must now be reconciled with the US Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) passed in the Senate in June 2021. USICA has a similar $52 billion funding goal, though it only has $10 billion earmarked for fabrication funding.
    Other chipmaking plants planned for the US — and potentially qualifying for funding — include Samsung’s $17 billion chip factory in Texas and Intel’s $100 billion “megafab” plant in Ohio.?