The U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday (28th) to pass the Chip Chip Act (CHIPS-plus), which will then be passed to the House of Representatives for a vote. Biden signed.
The bill was voted 64 to 32 yesterday to remove procedural obstacles through key procedural votes, laying the foundation for a successful vote today. The bill is now headed to the House of Representatives for a vote as soon as this week and handed over to President Biden for signature before Congress adjourns in August.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the chip bill was a major victory for American families and the economy when it passed a preliminary procedural vote in the Senate in early July.
In addition to appropriating $52 billion to subsidize the semiconductor industry, the CHIPS-plus Act also provides investment tax credits for the industry, as well as funding to stimulate innovation and development in the United States and other technologies. On the one hand, the bill also helps the United States compete with China.
Chip supply has been in short supply in recent years amid the coronavirus pandemic and a sudden shift in consumer demand, and the U.S. share of global chip production has plummeted in recent decades, while China and other countries have invested heavily in the industry. In addition, the United States rarely produces the most advanced semiconductors, and most of them are produced by Taiwan, which has made Taiwan a center of tension between the United States and China.
Supporters say the development of chip manufacturing is critical to the U.S. economy and national security. Chips are becoming increasingly important in everyday items such as consumer electronics and automobiles as technological innovations make machines smarter.
However, there has also been opposition to the bill, with some Senate Republicans arguing that the bill lacks a “guardrail” to prevent money from falling into Chinese hands. Other critics argue that the U.S. will have to spend billions more before it has a real chance to compete with the world’s leading chipmakers.
Independent lawmaker Bernie Sanders also opposed the previous version of the bill earlier this month, saying it was a $53 billion “blank check” for “lucrative” semiconductor and chip companies that would not help resolve the issue. The real concerns about climate change, gun safety, protecting women’s abortion rights, and boosting Social Security benefits will only further widen America’s fiscal deficit.
However, Sanders said ahead of Wednesday’s vote: “Let’s rebuild America’s chip industry, but do it in a way that benefits society as a whole, not just a few lucrative companies.”