US Focus on Chips Could Prove to Be a Fatal Flaw
Semiconductors are important, but they’re only the start of the technology supply chain.
More than just chips.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergUS politicians, business leaders and think-tank analysts seem to believe that locally made chips will fortify the nation’s technology supply chain at a time when global tensions are running hot. They’re mistaken, and that error could push the US into even greater dependence on foreign manufacturers.
Passage of the $52 billion CHIPS Act in August is rightly hailed as a landmark move to rebuild America’s role in the semiconductor industry. Chipmakers, both in the US and overseas, are incentivized to set up more facilities on local soil and many are doing just that. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. announced expansion plans, and made clear that such projects will depend on government money.