A bipartisan group of representatives pressed the Biden administration to take more aggressive action to end China’s dominance in the construction of older semiconductors.
Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) asked U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Friday to take additional action to prevent China from accessing the tools needed to make older chips, according to the Wall Street Journal. While the Biden administration has put a heavy emphasis on stopping China’s development of advanced chips that would be used for high-level technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, it has not taken action to prevent China from constructing older chips used in consumer products such as appliances, cars, and consumer devices such as iPhones and computers.
China could become a dominant provider in these older chips, Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi wrote, and could then use that dominance to penalize other competitors. They called on the secretaries to “utilize all existing trade authorities” to take additional actions to protect the U.S. supply chain from being overwhelmed as the country invests billions into expanding its chip manufacturing capabilities. This includes introducing tariffs, as well as other possible countermeasures.
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The United States has been expanding its investments into domestic chipmakers. The Commerce Department announced last week that it would provide $162 million in grant money to Microchip Technology to empower its creation of older chips. The grant will supplement the construction of additional plants in Gresham, Oregon, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, the department said.
The Commerce Department has already moved toward taking action to address China’s sway over the market for non-cutting-edge semiconductors. In December, it announced plans to survey the supply chain to ensure it understands China’s control of the semiconductor marketplace.
