Aiming to keep the country’s technology ahead of superpower rival China, the US Senate has passed a long-awaited chip bill. The bill would unlock $52 billion in investment incentives to revive the domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry.
The Senate approved the bill on Tuesday, July 19, leading to the final version being approved by the House of Representatives last week. It’s now on President Biden’s desk, and he’s promised to sign the bipartisan legislation into law next week when he wakes up from his latest COVID-19 quarantine.
America’s Chips Bill
The industry is looking forward to the bill passing with additional tax breaks and other subsidies on offer. Many companies, including Intel, Taiwan Manufacturing Semiconductor Co. (TSMC), and GlobalFoundries have suggested that their plans to expand into the U.S. are directly dependent on government funding.
They may be caused by further delays in passing the bill. Last year, China’s orders for chipping equipment from international suppliers rose 58%, cementing its position as the largest market for such products.
- America passed a new chip bill for their technology development.
- Relationship between US and China was not good now.
- America feel that China was cheating on the market price.
Gaurav Gupta, an analyst at Gartner Inc., said China had started a buying spree in anticipation that Washington would soon impose more restrictions. Some U.S. chipmakers have accused the Chinese of paying high market prices, jeopardizing their access to devices.
But Commerce Secretary Gina Raimond indicated her department would refrain from further intervention at this stage. However, as the US-China race for technological dominance intensifies, the hitherto highly integrated global chip industry may be further fragmented.
