Japan will provide up to 46.6 billion yen ($322 million) in subsidies to a major U.S. chipmaker to support its plans to produce advanced memory chips at its Hiroshima plant, the country’s trade minister said Friday. The announcement of the subsidy to Micron Technology (Micron) follows a visit to Japan by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris as Japan and the United States have strengthened cooperation in expanding manufacturing and supply chains for key materials.
“I hope this deal will help further expand cooperation between Japan and the United States in the semiconductor field,” said Japanese Economy and Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura. He said the government approved the deal Friday under a law related to economic security.
Right now, Japan has set up its own fund to support semiconductor production, and Friday’s agreement is its third deal.
Micron is said to be one of the companies that attended the meeting with Harris, along with Tokyo Electron, Nikon, Hitachi High-Technologies Group and Fujitsu Ltd.
