Biden signs bill to make us chip away at competing with China

Expansion

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a major bill providing $52.7 billion in subsidies for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and research. Biden said, the future will be made in America. In America, this is a once-in-a-century investment. While it’s unclear when the U.S. Commerce Department will write rules to review the grants and how long the programs will take, Biden said chip companies are investing.

Biden was joined by some Republican chips on the White House lawn when the bill was signed. Also in attendance were the CEOs of Micron, Intel, Lockheed Martin, HP and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD.O ). The White House said the passage of the bill would encourage new chip investments. Qualcomm on Monday agreed to buy an additional $4.2 billion in semiconductor chips from GlobalFoundries’ New York factory, bringing its total commitment to $7.4 billion through 2028.

The White House announced a $40 billion investment in memory chip manufacturing for Micron, which will increase its US market share from 2% to 10%. Progressives argued the bill was a cheap way for profitable chips companies to close former U.S. plants. Biden argued Tuesday that the law doesn’t hand companies blank checks.

The act was intended to address persistent shortages that have plagued everything from cars to weapons to washing machines to video games. Thousands of cars and trucks are waiting for chips in southeast Michigan as shortages hit automakers.