Chips Act Skips US Leaders for Asian Winners
For all its ambition and that extra $52 billion in funding, the US needs to do a lot more to stay ahead of China and close the gap on Taiwan and South Korea.
Foreign domination.
Photographer: Olivier Matthys/BloombergLong-awaited funding for the CHIPS Act is a win for a cabal of US chipmakers and foreign companies, but largely ignores the nation’s true semiconductor leaders who have been propping up the domestic sector for two decades.
Three-quarters of the $52 billion allocated to the industry by Congress was earmarked “to strengthen semiconductor advanced test, assembly, and packaging capability in the domestic ecosystem.” The rest of the funds will largely go to a technology center to be set up by the Commerce and Defense departments, and a new Manufacturing USA Institute that will mostly research new ways to make chips, according to the funding schedule outlined in Senate Amendment 5135. It passed the House Thursday.