Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the details of its “Chip Act” $50 billion appropriation plan.
According to the information on the official website of the US Department of Commerce, the grant program is called “CHIPS for America” and is implemented by the National Institute of Standards and Technology . The purpose is to revitalize the domestic semiconductor industry and stimulate innovation, while creating high-paying jobs across the country.
According to the strategy document released yesterday, the plan includes four main goals : establishing and expanding the production of advanced process semiconductors in the United States; building a sufficient and stable mature node semiconductor supply chain in the United States; investing in semiconductor research and development to ensure the next generation of semiconductors. Semiconductor technology is designed and produced in the United States; creating tens of thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs and more than 100,000 construction jobs, and working to reach women, people of color, veterans and rural residents.
Specifically, the plan divides the 50 billion investment into three parts, investing in the field of advanced process semiconductors, mature process semiconductor manufacturing and semiconductor research and development.
Among them, the investment quota of advanced process semiconductor manufacturing is 28 billion US dollars, accounting for about three-quarters of the total investment, which is used to produce logic and memory chips with advanced process technology in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Commerce stipulates that these amounts can be used to make grants to businesses, enter into partnership agreements with businesses, or provide subsidized loans or loan guarantees to businesses. The Ministry of Commerce stated that due to concerns that the investment tax relief will lead to a large increase in investment projects by enterprises receiving subsidies, and ultimately reduce the CHIPS incentive funds that should be allocated to frontier projects, policies related to tax relief are still under evaluation.
The CHIPS Incentive Program will also invest $10 billion in mature chip manufacturing to increase domestic U.S. production of a range of mature process semiconductors in key sectors including defense and automotive. These funds can also be used for grants, partnership agreements, and subsidized loans. or loan guarantee.
Finally, CHIPS will also invest $11 billion to “strengthen U.S. leadership in research and development.” The funding will be used to build the National Semiconductor Technology Center, implement the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program, establish three new U.S. manufacturing institutes and implement the NIST metrology research and development program. The U.S. Department of Commerce said the program is designed to create a more dynamic innovation network for the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem. Achieving this vision will require collaboration from academia, industry, and the support of U.S. allies, as well as sustained investment over many years.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo commented: “Rebuilding U.S. leadership in the semiconductor industry is the ‘down payment’ the United States must pay for the future as a global leader. The ‘Chips for America’ program will ensure that the United States has a strong stake in national security and economic growth. Continue to maintain a leading position in the industry that plays a pivotal role in the industry.”
In addition, the U.S. Department of Commerce also stated that the incentives will focus on advancing long-term strategic goals, and proposed a series of conditions for companies to enter the scope of incentive distribution, including: expanding scale; promoting semiconductor ecology; establishing and strengthening regional and local industrial clusters; establishing security Resilient semiconductor supply chain; expanding labor channels, etc. The Ministry of Commerce added that the relevant departments will issue a more detailed announcement of the CHIPS incentive plan within six months to clarify the clear participation eligibility and evaluation criteria for the CHIPS incentive funds.
At the same time, the rules still reiterate the “guardrail clause” mentioned when U.S. President Biden signed the proposal: if the beneficiary of the fund invests in the latest technology in “concerned countries” such as China and Russia, it will be considered “Endangering the national security of the United States,” Congress has the right to demand the full recovery of subsidy funds. The fine print also added that the funds must be used for construction projects subject to CHIPS terms, and subsidies cannot be used for share buybacks or dividend payments to shareholders. Leifeng.com
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