US senators propose $22bn fund for new fabs on American soil because making stuff is better than designing stuff
- Reference: 1591860553
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/06/11/usa_porposes_silicon_manufacturing_fund/
- Source link:
The bill, proposed by Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democratic Senator Mark Warner, would authorise the Department of Defense to use funding under the Defense Production Act to "establish and enhance a domestic semiconductor production capability."
It would do so by creating a 40 per cent refundable tax credit for semiconductor equipment, as well as providing $10bn in funds to build local factories to match incentives offered by state and local governments, and $12bn for research and development at various federal agencies.
"Semiconductors underpin nearly all innovation today and are critical to US communications and defence computing capabilities," Senator Cornyn said in [1]a statement . "While Texas has been a leader in manufacturing this technology and the US leads the world in chip design, most of those chips are manufactured outside the United States."
Senator Warner added: "America's innovation in semiconductors undergirds our entire innovation economy, driving the advances we see in autonomous vehicles, supercomputing, augmented reality, IoT devices and more. Unfortunately, our complacency has allowed our competitors – including adversaries – to catch up. This bill reinvests in this national priority."
The United States is already home to dozens of chipmaking factories, but President Trump's America-first policies, trade tensions and the novel coronavirus have seen the nation increasingly keen to make more of everything at home.
The [2]recent decision by TSMC to build a new chippery in Arizona was therefore hailed as a step in the right direction.
That facility will cost $12bn, suggesting that this $22bn plan won't go a long way towards re-establishing silicon supremacy. ®
Sponsored: [3]Why Container Security Matters to your Business
[1] https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/node/5599
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/15/tsmc_to_build_new_5nm_fab_in_usa/
[3] https://go.theregister.com/tl/1956/-8478/why-container-security-matters-to-your-business?td=wptl1956
Re: Damn socialists
This is why it is being done through the Defense Department as, presumably, they hope to skate around WTO rules which provide for exceptions on the grounds of national security.
Re: Damn socialists
@You aint sin me, roit
Is it subsidies or tax breaks? They are very different things. Not taxing progress is a tax break and it sounds like that is what is proposed (quick glance I might be wrong) for people to make such factories. A subsidy is the gov picking a winner and throwing money at them.
Remind me which country...
...gets pissy over government subsidies?
Bombardier case anyone?
$22bn Won’t go far?
Firstly it’s not just $22bn, you’ve forgotten the 40% tax credit on top of that.
Secondly it needs to be more than matched by manufacturers, so something like 3 or 4 factories equipped for 14nm or better production.
Thirdly you don’t need a vast number of factories to turn out more than enough chips for the whole of the USA. There are only about a dozen or so fabs in the world that are currently able to manage 14nm or better, so something like 20-30% of world capacity.
It's not the building or the hardware ..
.. it's the people.
This all moved to China because capable people are cheaper there (not to mention the semi-capable, but I digress). I am not sure they will be able to compete other than by sticking the National Security tag on this, and that is before the usual idiots start talking about adding backdoors to their chippery.
Given that anything based on Intel is already slowed down by the need to keep those backdoors closed, I don't think that it will be easy to gain that sort of trust other than by openness - which won't happen.
I don't have a good feeling about this one.
Meh
If the US wants to try and bring back low value jobs its up to them. It should make some people happy, particularly people who like to complain the UK doesnt do any manufacturing (which is wrong) as I assume they will argue we should do the same.
What is worth more? The chip or knowing how the chip works and the R&D to improve on it?
Re: Meh
If the US wants to try and bring back low value jobs its up to them.
Just how many people work at a fab anyway, and what skill level(s) are needed? I've never managed to find any information on this in spite of much Googling.
Unlikely to succeed
Most likely just another pork barrel.
Even if they actually managed to build 1-2 factories with that money, those factories would only be able to build high-end, big-profit products. There is a reason all factories have been moved to cheaper countries, and are constantly shuffled around as people over there progressively get smart and ask for adequate pay.
So they'll probably build a factory and run it as long as the subventions finance it, then it will be sold to some "acquaintance" and turn into a tax-financed mall...
Damn socialists
And their unfair government subsidies!