White House Finalizes $6.6B in Funding to Boost TSMC Chip Production
What you’ll learn:
- Specifics of the CHIPS Act.
- What the government funding is expected to accomplish.
The White House recently cemented $6.6 billion in funding to further prop up semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. The Commerce Department allocated the funds for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) to build three semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Arizona as part of the CHIPS and Science Act. The goal is to reestablish the United States’ leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.
The CHIPS and Science Act came on the heels of the severe semiconductor supply-chain disruption during the onset of the pandemic and the overwhelming demand for advanced chips. According to House Bill H.R.4346 - CHIPS and Science Act, $39 billion is earmarked for building semiconductor fabrication plants, or “fabs.” This includes $2 billion specifically designated for semiconductors essential to the military, along with allotments for the automotive and manufacturing industries. The remainder of the funds will bolster the domestic ecosystem for semiconductor production, including research and development and the workforce needed to make it happen.
The funds will supplement $65 billion additional funds that TSMC has already pledged to build the Arizona facilities, as well as 6,000 manufacturing jobs and 20,000 additional construction jobs. The Department of Commerce said over $30 billion in CHIPS private sector investments will span 30 additional projects in 15 states, which will include 16 new semiconductor manufacturing facilities and create over 115,000 jobs throughout the nation.
In a recent statement released by President Biden, the government completed the $6.6 billion grant with TMSC, stating, “Today’s final agreement with TSMC—the world’s leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductors—will spur $65 billion dollars of private investment to build three state-of-the-art facilities in Arizona and create tens of thousands of jobs by the end of the decade. This is the largest foreign direct investment in a greenfield project in the history of the United States.”
