U.S. SENATE CHINA BILL SETS ASIDE $52B FOR CHIP MAKING

The Senate will include $52 billion to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing in a broader bill to enhance US competitiveness with China, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, Daniel Flatley reported for Bloomberg News.

Schumer on Tuesday called the move “a historic and immediate infusion of federal money” to restore US manufacturing of semiconductors that are crucial to the automobile and electronics industries as well as the military.

Among other things, the legislation would set up a program to give financial assistance to build, expand, or modernize semiconductor fabrication plants in the US.

Funding to support the domestic semiconductor industry was authorized in the 2021 defense policy bill, but it didn’t actually provide the money.

The addition to the China bill, which is based on legislation Schumer sponsored with Indiana Republican Senator Todd Young, would remedy that. “This is a very big deal,” Schumer said.

The addition of the funding to the broader legislation was key to moving toward the passage of the measure, which Schumer wants to accomplish by the end of the month.

Though additional changes may be made over the coming days, it has broad support in the chamber with bipartisan fervor to counter China’s challenge to US economic primacy. President Joe Biden also has endorsed the bill.

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