WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Senate passed bipartisan legislation authored by U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) to bolster American semiconductor manufacturing. Peters’ Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act would strengthen federal efforts to attract investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturers and supply chains. The legislation aims to build on the CHIPS and Science Act, which Peters helped craft and pass into law to expand U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, bring home good-paying jobs, and strengthen U.S. national security.
“In order to remain a global economic powerhouse, we need to build on the investments we made in the CHIPS and Science Act to continue expanding our vital semiconductor industry,” said Senator Peters, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “This bipartisan bill would help drive further investment in American manufacturers and supply chains to reduce our dependence on foreign competitors for these critical technologies and create more good-paying jobs in Michigan. I’m pleased the bill passed the Senate and I'll continue working to see it enacted into law.”
The Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act would direct the U.S. Department of Commerce’s SelectUSA program to collaborate with federal agencies and state economic development organizations to attract investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturers and supply chains. Peters’ bill – which passed the Senate last Congress – would help to address the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor technologies that has disrupted a range of industries in recent years – including manufacturers and automakers in Michigan. Peters reintroduced the bill with U.S. Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
The SelectUSA program, established in 2011, focuses on attracting job-creating business investments to the United States. This legislation would enhance SelectUSA’s role in strengthening private sector investments across the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain.
The Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act would also require SelectUSA to engage with state-level economic development organizations to identify strategies and address challenges in attracting foreign direct investment for semiconductor manufacturing. The goal is to develop comprehensive strategies to increase investments in this critical sector.
Peters has worked to address the semiconductor shortage crisis that has stymied automotive innovation in recent years and impacted consumers, workers, and industries across the country – including the Michigan auto industry. Peters secured multiple provisions in the CHIPS and Science Act that was signed into law to bolster U.S. semiconductor production, including a provision he championed with former U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) to create a $2 billion supplemental incentive fund to support the domestic production of mature semiconductor technologies and ensure that projects supporting critical manufacturing industries are given priority status, which would include the automotive sector. This is in addition to $50 billion already in the bill to incentivize the production of semiconductors of all kinds in the U.S. – for a total of $52 billion.
The CHIPS and Science Act also included Peters’ bipartisan Investing in Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing Act, which will ensure federal incentives to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing include U.S. suppliers that produce the materials and manufacturing equipment that enable semiconductor manufacturing – bolstering semiconductors supply chains and Michigan manufacturers. Peters’ provision directly supports Michigan manufacturers like Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC) in Hemlock, Michigan which was recently awarded up to $325 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding to build a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. The project will allow the company to expand production of hyper-pure polysilicon needed to manufacture semiconductor chips and is expected to create 180 good-paying manufacturing jobs, as well as thousands of construction jobs, in Michigan.
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