The US government said yesterday that it has finalized a grant with chipmaker GlobalFoundries Inc to support its semiconductor manufacturing investments, as US President Joe Biden works to secure parts of his legacy before Donald Trump’s White House return.
The binding contract provides up to US$1.5 billion in direct funding and comes under the CHIPS and Science Act, a suite of incentives to boost research and US semiconductor production.
The US produces just about 10 percent of the global supply of chips, relying on East Asia for 75 percent of world production, the White House noted in 2022.
Photo: Cindy Schultz, Bloomberg
"By investing in GF’s domestic manufacturing capabilities, we are helping to secure a stable domestic supply of chips that are found in everything from home electronics to advanced weapons systems," US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said.
The finalized award comes after a preliminary agreement announced in February, and means that funds can begin flowing when milestones are reached.
The Biden administration has unveiled billions in grants through the CHIPS Act but much of the funds have not been disbursed.
Officials have since been working to get deals across the finish line.
The latest announcement comes about two months before US president-elect Trump, who has previously criticized the CHIPS Act, takes office.
The award is aimed at supporting broader investment of around US$13 billion by GlobalFoundries (GF) over the next 10 years or so, in its manufacturing sites in New York and Vermont, the commerce department said.
This will improve US "competitiveness in current-generation semiconductor production," the department added.
The sites produce semiconductor tech in key areas like automotive, aerospace and defense, as well as communications.
There are currently just four companies outside China that provide "current and mature foundry capabilities at the scale of GF," the department said.
GF is the only one of these firms headquartered in the US.
"We are strategically strengthening every part of the semiconductor supply chain to ensure we meet our national security objectives and have the ability to out-compete and out-innovate the rest of the world," Raimondo added in a statement.
The aim is to boost economic and national security by increasing domestic manufacturing capacity and bringing back technologies key to US defense and intelligence communities.
The company’s investment is estimated to generate about 1,000 manufacturing jobs across both sites.
Last week, US officials finalized a grant to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) as well, for up to US$6.6 billion in direct funding to help build facilities on American soil.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
RSS