White House Chip Summit Builds Momentum for Federal Investments in U.S. Chip Manufacturing and Research

by Semiconductor Industry Association

WASHINGTON—April 12, 2021—The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today released the following statement from President and CEO John Neuffer regarding today’s meeting at the White House between Biden Administration officials and leaders from the semiconductor industry and other sectors to discuss the global chip shortage, President Biden’s infrastructure plan, and other issues related to the semiconductor supply chain. Meeting participants included SIA board members Tom Caulfield, CEO of GlobalFoundries, Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, and Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology, along with senior executives from SIA member companies NXP, Samsung, and TSMC.

“We appreciate the White House meeting with industry leaders about the importance of ensuring a strong and resilient semiconductor supply chain, and we commend President Biden’s support for $50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing and research investments to achieve this goal. Semiconductors are at the heart of America’s job creation, pandemic response, national security, education system, and growth and innovation across a range of sectors, including aerospace, automotive, cloud computing, medical devices, telecommunications, and many others. Funding the chip manufacturing incentives and research investments called for in the CHIPS for America Act, as President Biden’s infrastructure plan would do, will strengthen U.S. semiconductor production and innovation across the board so all sectors of our economy have the chips they need. Today’s meeting marks the continuation of a strong partnership between the Biden Administration and industry to strengthen America’s semiconductor supply chain by enacting federal investments in domestic chip manufacturing and research.”

The share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the U.S. has decreased from 37% in 1990 to 12% today. This decline is largely due to substantial subsidies offered by the governments of our global competitors, placing the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage in attracting new construction of semiconductor manufacturing facilities, or “fabs.” Additionally, federal investment in semiconductor research has been flat as a share of GDP, while other governments have invested substantially in research initiatives to strengthen their own semiconductor capabilities.

Recognizing the critical role semiconductors play in America’s future, Congress in January enacted the CHIPS for America Act as part of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The new law calls for incentives for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and investments in chip research, but funding must be provided to make these provisions a reality. President Biden’s infrastructure plan calls for $50 billion to fund the semiconductor manufacturing and research provisions in the CHIPS for America Act.

In February, the SIA board of directors – and later a broad coalition of business leaders led by SIA – called on President Biden to work with Congress to fund the semiconductor manufacturing incentives and research initiatives as part of his infrastructure plan.

# # #