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The bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act was passed by the House Thursday by vote of 243 to 187 and now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature.
The bill, which was passed earlier this week by the Senate, invests $52 billion in domestic chip production.
President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation during the coming days.
“Semiconductors are critical pieces of a wide range of goods that Americans rely on every day — and as inflation has struck the price of cars, appliances, and other goods, it’s important to recognize a key reason for such dramatic price increases: We aren’t making these chips in America anymore,” Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, said in a news release. “Not only did the U.S. pioneer the microchip and the computing power that now powers our daily lives, we used to have almost 40% of the global semiconductor market.
“Now we’ve become reliant on almost 90% of our semiconductors from foreign sources, putting our supply chains and national security at constant risk — as well as forcing additional costs on American families who need these goods when supply chains have failed,” the congressman said. “That’s why the CHIPs and Science Act was a part of my Inflation Action Plan. Lowering costs for these goods can’t happen if their central components have to come from far-off nations.”
Recent supply chain disruptions have highlighted America’s reliance on foreign-made semiconductors, Rep. Carbajal’s office noted in its news release.
The U.S. has seen its domestic manufacturing capacity for these hi-tech components decrease from more than one-third to only 12% of the global market over the past 20 years, according to the news release.
Included in the $52 billion for investments in domestic semiconductor manufacturing is a new tax credit to motivate companies to invest in production. There are also guardrails to prevent private companies from using these investments to fund stock buybacks or dividends.
Proponents say the legislation also strengthens research and development through the National Science Foundation, supports regional tech hubs to create jobs and spur innovation in new parts of the country, diversifies the STEM workforce, and expands access to American-made 5G technology. (STEM stands for “science, technology, engineering and math.”)
The CHIPS and Science Act is projected to create 100,000 new jobs building hi-tech manufacturing facilities in the U.S., and help increase America’s STEM workforce to fill new research and development jobs across the nation, according to Rep. Carbajal’s office.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
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