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On Tuesday, local time, US President Biden planned to sign a Chip and Science Act, which will invest billions of dollars in domestic scientific research and semiconductor manufacturing in the United States to increase U.S. semiconductor production and compete with the competitiveness of countries such as China. But because biden's symptoms were repeated, he had to quarantine at the White House and celebrate the bill's passage with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer online.
After three years of pause and launch, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $52 billion chip bill last week. With strong bipartisan support, the bill was unanimously passed in the Senate and sent to President Joe Biden for signature.
The bill comes with an important condition: Companies that receive funding must pledge not to expand advanced chip production in China, which would limit opportunities for chip companies such as Intel and TSMC in the largest semiconductor markets and exacerbate tensions between the United States and China.
Specifically mentioned in the Chip Act, beneficiary companies are prohibited from expanding production and investing in chips more advanced than 28 nanometers in China for 10 years. Although 28nm chips are a few generations behind the world's leading chips today, they are still widely used in cars and smartphones.
At present, Intel has promised to build a $20 billion chip factory near Columbus, Ohio. The facility is expected to employ 3,000 workers as well as 7,000 temporary construction jobs.
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At a news conference last week, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that while the U.S. still has a long way to go to compete with Asia in semiconductor manufacturing, she is confident that the bill will lure chipmakers back to the U.S. mainland.
"For the U.S., I'm not worried about whether we have the capacity to meet demand. In addition, Congress's move yesterday in the Chip Act is a big step forward to ensure that we protect ourselves and our allies and have an ample supply of semiconductors for decades to come. ”
Maryam Rofougaran, CEO of 5G startup Mowandi, welcomed the bill's passage and said it would provide a continuous and reliable supply of chips. But some other business leaders say supply continuity is more important than where the chips are produced. Mike Jette, vice president of telecommunications, media and technology at GEP, a supply chain software and consulting firm, said: "People who put these chips into the products they make are more concerned with getting a stable supply than where they are made. ”
As a result of Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, semiconductor stocks plummeted local time on Tuesday.
TSMC, the world's largest and most valuable semiconductor manufacturer with a market capitalization of $440 billion, fell 2.4 percent on Tuesday. Taiwan's United Microelectronics and MediaTek fell 3 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, U.S. chipmaker Intel shares fell 1.5 percent on the same day.
(Editor: Kim Ri-wei)