GlobalWafers' decision to build a semiconductor chip facility in Texas is great news, but it might be dependent on the passage of the Bipartisan Innovation Act, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said.
“Today’s announcement from GlobalWafers is critical to rebuilding the domestic semiconductor supply chain, strengthening our economic and national security, and creating U.S. manufacturing jobs,” Raimondo said, according to a Department of Commerce press release on June 27. “The Biden administration has worked tirelessly to make the U.S. an attractive place to manufacture semiconductors and their components and are excited that GlobalWafers chose Texas for their new facility. But we are at a make-or-break moment to expand domestic semiconductor production.”
Raimondo told CNBC that GlobalWafers' decision is definitely dependent on the passage of the CHIPS Act. Sources are now reporting that Congress might slice it out of the broader legislation to pass it separately.
“Semiconductor firms need to make investment decisions by the fall to meet the enormous increased demand for chips,” she said, according to the release. “GlobalWafers committed to the U.S. because they believe Congress will get the Bipartisan Innovation Act over the finish line in the coming weeks. Moving quickly to pass this bill will demonstrate America’s commitment to robust domestic semiconductor capacity and provide more companies throughout the supply chain the confidence they need to move forward with investments here.”
Raimondo believes the deal will go away if Congress doesn’t act, CNBC reported. Semiconductor demand is expected to double in the next decade.
Taiwan-based GlobalWafers, a semiconductor silicon wafer firm, announced in June plans to construct a 3.2 million-square-foot silicon wafer factory in Sherman, Texas. It would be the first new facility of its kind in the U.S. in over two decades, the Commerce Department release said. The facility would produce 300-millimeter silicon wafers, which all advanced semiconductor fabrication sites need. The majority of these wafers are manufactured in Asia.
“With the global chips shortage and ongoing geopolitical concerns, GlobalWafers is taking this opportunity to address the United States semiconductor supply chain resiliency issue by building an advanced node, state-of-the-art, 300-millimeter silicon wafer factory,” GlobalWafers Chairman/CEO Doris Hsu said, according to the release.
The company would produce and supply wafers locally, he said, significantly reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing. He said that benefits customers and GWA, the release reported.
The CHIPS Act acknowledges that the U.S. semiconductor industry will play a key role in the country's future and incentivizes semiconductor manufacturing and research, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported. The U.S. Senate and the House passed versions of the bill last June. Both included $52 billion in investments in semiconductor-related provisions. The House and Senate have been working on a compromise.
“Cleave off the CHIPS and pass it," Raimondo told Axios. "There's a real time urgency there because these chip companies are making their decisions right now about where to expand.”
The Biden administration wants more with the passage of a robust Bipartisan Innovation Act, she told Axios.
Reuters reported that the Senate could begin voting on the legislation as early as July 19, hoping to get it to the president's desk before they leave for their August recess.
