Under Joseph Biden, the US government failed to distribute the full amount of subsidies for the construction of chip manufacturing plants in the country under the 2022 CHIP Act. Donald Trump’s rise to power, according to some sources, could change the terms of such subsidies.
Image source: Micron Technology
Even during his election campaign, Trump did not speak very flatteringly about the initiative to subsidize the national semiconductor industry in the amount of $39 billion in terms of building new enterprises in the United States. Firstly, he considered subsidies not the best tool, proposing instead to introduce high customs duties that would attract chip manufacturers to American soil without any expenses from the budget. Secondly, he did not like the fact that foreign companies were receiving subsidies from the American budget. Taiwanese companies were especially hard hit, since the island is home to the overwhelming majority of enterprises producing chips using advanced lithographic standards.
Reuters has questioned the U.S. government’s steadfastness in implementing the program to subsidize the national semiconductor industry after a statement by representatives of Taiwanese company GlobalWafers. In it, this Asian silicon wafer manufacturer admitted that U.S. officials in charge of the issue found discrepancies between the program and Donald Trump’s policies and his recent decrees. The terms of the agreements reached with recipients of the subsidies are now being reviewed by U.S. officials, the source said.
Taiwan’s GlobalWafers was supposed to receive $406 million from the US government to build two silicon wafer manufacturing plants in Texas and Missouri, but to do so, it needs to demonstrate some progress in implementing the project. The new US administration is rumored to dislike many of the terms of granting subsidies to applicants under the 2022 Chip Act. Officials are confused by the plans of companies receiving money in the US to expand their business outside the country, including China. Intel, after reaching a preliminary agreement with the US government on receiving subsidies, announced that it would spend $300 million to expand a chip testing and packaging plant in China. In addition, TSMC, Samsung, and SK hynix also have large enterprises in China. It is difficult to predict how the new US leadership will view their inevitable development.