Increasing domestic chip manufacturing in the U.S. will help with competitiveness and create jobs
In June, the U.S. Senate passed the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) to help increase U.S. domestic semiconductor manufacturing by providing funding for Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) America Act.
The bipartisan bill aims to enhance competitiveness in the U.S. by promoting American science and technology leadership.
A recent Electronics 360 article provides details on why USICA matters. According to the article, “The share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the U.S. has fallen from 37% in 1990 to just 12% today, according to the SIA. This decline is due to foreign countries offering substantial subsidies to global competitors to build new fabs. This placed the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage in attracting new construction of chip fabs.”
At the same time, the U.S. accounted for 55% of total semiconductor sales worldwide in 2020. If nothing is done to correct the disparity, U.S. manufacturing could fall to just 10% of the world’s chips in the next decade.
As with so many industries, supply chain issues in the semiconductor industry were laid bare during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the majority of semiconductor manufacturing taking place in Taiwan, Korea and China. When lockdowns and stay-at-home orders caused factories to close temporarily, it impacted the entire industry.
Supply chain vulnerabilities combined with decreased U.S. chip production forced the Biden administration, U.S. Congress, trade organizations and U.S. companies to call for increased funding for domestic chip manufacturing.
Read the full article here to get details on how USICA is projected to help bring new fabs to the U.S., increase chip manufacturing in the United States, and impact American job growth.
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