With the investment plans in microprocessors, infrastructure and clean energy that he managed to carry out in the first half of his term, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, can afford to distribute money as president, while at the same time playing the re-election. This Thursday, Biden traveled to Syracuse, New York, to announce that the Department of Commerce has reached a preliminary agreement with Micron to provide up to $6.14 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. “It is something very important,” said the president. “We are bringing advanced chip manufacturing back to the United States.”
This investment will support the construction of two factories in Clay, New York, and a factory in Boise, Idaho, mobilizing $50 billion in private investment by 2030. This will be the first step toward a Micron investment of up to $125 billion. in both states over the next two decades to build a cutting-edge memory manufacturing ecosystem, according to the White House. “It is the largest private investment in the history of these two states, Idaho and New York,” said Biden, who at another point in his speech confused Idaho with Ohio.
Micron’s total investment will be the largest private investment in the history of New York and Idaho, creating more than 70,000 jobs, including 20,000 direct construction and manufacturing jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs. The bulk of the investment will be made in New York. In Boise, Idaho, where it is based, Micron has plans for a $15 billion memory chip plant.
Intel (in Arizona and Ohio), TSMC (in Arizona), Samsung (in Texas) and other companies have also benefited from funding from the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which provides public aid for new facilities and expansion of the existing ones. It has triggered a wave of unprecedented investment in microprocessors in the United States.
Semiconductors were invented in the United States and their use has been spreading to all types of devices, from mobile phones to electric vehicles, household appliances, satellites, defense systems and much more. But today, the United States only produces about 10% of the world’s chips and none of the most advanced. The Democratic Administration has set a goal of 20% of the world’s advanced chips being manufactured in the United States and has restricted the flow of chips to China.
“Thanks to President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, that is changing. Companies have announced more than $825 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States since the president took office, including in semiconductors. Jobs and semiconductor manufacturing are rebounding,” the White House said. “It is one of the most important investments in science and technology in our history,” Biden said this Thursday.
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The president has traveled to New York State to capitalize on these investments and has justified the incentives. “When the pandemic closed chip factories abroad, prices of everything went up here at home. “This shortage of semiconductors drove a third of the increase in inflation in 2021, causing long waiting lines for all types of products,” he said in Syracuse (New York). “I decided that I will never let us be vulnerable to waiting lines again. If it is essential, we will do it here in America,” he added.
“And, friends, my predecessor [Donald Trump] and their MAGA Republican friends have a very different view. “They oppose the CHIPS and Science Act that is driving this growth today,” he said. Then he pointed out some Republican congressmen who opposed the law, but then praised the investments. “Conversion is wonderful,” he said. “Look, we have to stop this division. I promised to be a president for all of America, whether you voted for me or not. Today’s investment helps Americans everywhere, in red states [republicanos] and blues [demócratas]and proves that we leave no one behind,” he added.
Voters, however, remain unconvinced that the economy is doing well. The unemployment rate has been below 4% for more than two years, the longest period in more than half a century. However, prices have risen sharply and, following them, interest rates. That has affected Americans’ pockets and their confidence.
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