WASHINGTON, D.C. (WWJ) – Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says it could be “economically devastating” if the U.S. were denied computer microchips “at the wrong time.”
Duggan was on-hand at the White House Tuesday morning as President Joe Biden signed a new law looking to prevent that from happening.
Biden signed the $280 billion Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors for America (CHIPS) and Science Act into law on the White House lawn. The CHIPS Act aims to boost high-tech manufacturing in the U.S., with auto manufacturing among the biggest industries impacted by the recent shortage of chips.
“I think we’ve all been lax at having manufacturing overseas to save a couple bucks, not thinking about the implications long-term. And now I think we’re shifting back to building in America again, and it’s a great thing,” Duggan told WWJ’s Jon Hewett after the ceremony in Washington.
The bill will, among other investments, provide $52 billion in subsidies for domestic semiconductor production and research. The new law will provide money for the construction of up to a dozen microchip “fabrication” centers across the country.
While America was once a pioneer in the microchip manufacturing industry, having powered NASA’s trips to the moon. Biden framed Tuesday’s signing of the bill as a historical moment that will move the U.S. back to the fore of the industry.
“Decades from now, people will look back at this week and all we passed and all we moved on, that we met the moment at this inflection point in history,” Biden said. “A moment when we bet on ourselves, believed in ourselves and recaptured the story, the spirit and the soul of this nation.”
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Among the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic was the shutdown of overseas production of microchips that has impacted the cost and availability of everything from cars and household appliances, to medical devices and weapons systems.
The CHIPS and Science Act was more than a year in the making, and finally passed both chambers of Congress last month by large margins.
In addition to funding for microchip manufacturing, the new law also includes $170 billion for scientific research, innovation and space exploration.