Staying ahead: A semiconductor manufactured by TSMC on display at a global conference in China. The Act is designed to help close the gap with Taiwan and South Korea in terms of manufacturing capacity and prowess. — AFP
LONG-AWAITED funding for the Chips Act is a win for a cabal of US chipmakers and foreign companies, but largely ignores the nation’s true semiconductor leaders who have been propping up the domestic sector for two decades.
Three-quarters of the US$52bil (RM231.4bil) allocated to the industry by Congress was earmarked “to strengthen semiconductor advan- ced test, assembly, and packaging capability in the domestic ecosystem.“The rest of the funds will largely go to a technology centre to be set up by the commerce and defence departments, and a new Manufacturing USA Institute that will mostly research new ways to make chips, according to the funding schedule outlined in Senate Amendment 5135. It passed the House last Thursday.
