BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) — The U.S. Chip Act, which aims to enhance U.S. semiconductor manufacturing capacity, was passed 64-32 in the Senate procedural voting session on Tuesday. The U.S. government will provide $52 billion to subsidize the country’s semiconductor production, while also providing chip makers with about $24 billion in tax credits.
The U.S. Senate is expected to take a final vote in the next few days, and the House could vote as soon as later this week.
Biden and others view the bill from a security perspective, arguing that chips are critical to a variety of consumer products and military equipment and that ensuring U.S. production is essential.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo (D-Calif.) sees the vote as a symbol of a bipartisan effort to address the problem of chip manufacturing in the United States, which ensures a strong U.S. economy and national security.
House Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Chuck Schumer) said, “The pandemic clearly and unmistakably shows that the chip shortage is causing a crisis for the United States.”
The American Semiconductor Association sees the vote as a key step toward formal legislation that would strengthen U.S. chip production, spur innovation, benefit economic growth and job creation, and be good for national security.
Biden is attached to the chip bill, which has been in the works for more than a year and a version of which passed the Senate in June 2021 but got stuck in the House, to the frustration of some lawmakers who prioritized the issue of Chinese competition and global supply chains.
Critics such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) see this bill as a blank check to high-margin chip companies.
On Monday Biden had an online meeting with executives from Lockheed Martin, Medtronic, Cummins and other companies and some labor leaders to discuss the chip bill.
