COVID-19’s impact on semiconductor production
The COVID-19 pandemic unveiled just how fragile the semiconductor supply chain is. Heavy dependence on China and Taiwan for semiconductor manufacturing led to chip shortages early on in the pandemic, impacting a wide array of industries from medical supplies to electric vehicles.
President Biden recently met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to address the issue after being urged by lobbyists to dedicate funding for domestic chip research and production. Currently, only 12.5% of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing is done in the US.
The executive order will review current supply chains with a goal of minimizing future disruption.
“The review will be focused on identifying the immediate actions we can take, from improving the physical production of those items in the U.S., to working with allies to develop a coordinated response to the weaknesses and bottlenecks that are hurting American workers.” (Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary via Washington Post)
To learn more about this executive order and the semiconductor chip shortage, check out these sources: