Governor Greg Abbott says Texas is "leading the way" in drawing production of computer chips to the United States. Last month, Samsung announced it would build a $17 billion semiconductor facility in the Central Texas city of Taylor; Texas Instruments said it would invest up to $30 billion for a plant in Sherman.
"The country made a mistake over the past one or two decades to farm out manufacturing of all these essential supplies, whether it be semiconductors, or it could be healthcare supplies we needed during the time of COVID, whatever the case may be," Abbott said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures.
According to the market intelligence firm, TrendForce, 65% of semiconductors are made in Taiwan. South Korea accounts for 18% of production and China accounts for 5%.
"Texas will be the home of semiconductor manufacturing going forward," Abbott says.
Semiconductors are used in electronics, including phones and computers. Computer chips are also increasingly important in vehicle production.
Last week, Abbott attended an event to mark the start of production on the Toyota Tundra hybrid at a plant in San Antonio. Toyota has built the Tundra in San Antonio since 2006.
"The State of Texas economy is growing and thriving, and there are businesses moving here and growing here because Texas is the land of economic opportunity and innovation," Abbott says.
Samsung says it plans to start construction in Taylor in 2022 and open the plant in 2024. The company credits Texas and the Biden Administration for the ability to increase production and "contribute to the stability of the global semiconductor supply chain.”
“In addition to our partners in Texas, we are grateful to the Biden Administration for creating an environment that supports companies like Samsung as we work to expand leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. We also thank the administration and Congress for their bipartisan support to swiftly enact federal incentives for domestic chip production and innovation," Kinam Kim, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division, wrote in a statement.
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