GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — U.S. Sen. Gary Peters has concerns about computer chip shortages that are threatening to slow domestic car production.
If you’ve tried to buy a used car recently, you may have found inventory lacking and prices adjusted to reflect that. Now, concerns about a global shortage of a major component in new cars, semiconductor chips, could interrupt the manufacture of new cars.
The problem prompted Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, to look at how supply chain issues could affect the automotive industry in the future.
“I’m very concerned that you’ll see production of new cars, already we’re seeing that being curtailed,” Peters said during a Monday visit to Grand Rapids. “It’s difficult to know when those supplies are going to be coming in — depends on what expert you talk to — but certainly it’s going to be a problem through the rest of this year. I think there’s pretty broad consensus on that and the question is how far into 2022 do we go? That has an impact on jobs without question, which is why we have to be focused supply chains in a way that we haven’t in the past.”
He has introduced legislation that would protect the United States manufacturing supply chain and also help create more manufacturing jobs in this country to keep shortages from overseas makers, like this one, from disrupting crucial parts of our economy.