U.S. lawmakers want to prevent companies that win federal chipmaking funds from using Chinese-made equipment at government-backed factories, part of efforts to limit Beijing’s influence on domestic chip production.
Under a bipartisan bill introduced on June 18, companies such as Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. would be barred from buying chipmaking gear from entities owned or controlled by China, as well as Russia, North Korea and Iran.
The ban would apply only to U.S. facilities supported by funds from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, not to manufacturers’ overseas operations.
“As the United States revitalizes its domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry, we must do everything in our power to stop China and other foreign entities of concern from compromising our microchip manufacturing facilities,” Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, said in a statement. Kelly is sponsoring the bill alongside Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, while Representatives Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma Republican, and Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, are leading a companion measure in the House. The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors, or CHIPS, Act set aside $39 billion in grants — plus 25% tax credits, and loans and guarantees worth $75 billion — to revitalize the domestic industry after decades of production shifting to Asia.
Companies responded by announcing more than $400 billion in U.S. semiconductor investments.
And they’ve .
