New Legislation Required to Secure U.S. Semiconductor Leadership

Ensuring continued American leadership in the world’s most important industry — that’s the intent of two bipartisan bills recently introduced in Congress: theCreating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (“CHIPS”) for America Actintroduced by Sens.John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) and the American Foundries Act of 2020 introduced by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Between them, the proposed legislation would expand federal investment in semiconductor research and technology development, introduce incentives to locate semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the United States, and provide expanded tax credits for investment in the sector.

Writing in The Hill, Stephen Ezell emphasizes the important of strong innovation-driven legislation around semiconductors in order for the United States to maintain its leadership position in an industry it helped build.

The CHIPS Act represents Congressional and bipartisan recognition that the United States is engaged in a fierce contest for leadership in technologies of the future and that effective government policy can empower and enable America’s private-sector to continue to lead. The government should co-invest in R&D, coalesce industry consortiums to co-developed advanced manufacturing production processes and invest in the talent base and physical and digital infrastructure that underlies all this.