Peters Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Enhance Coordination on Strengthening Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing
Peters Bill Would Help Attract Investment in U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturers and Supply Chains, Improve Coordination Between Federal and State Efforts
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) announced the introduction of his bipartisan legislation to streamline federal efforts to strengthen and expand domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips. The Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act of 2021, which Peters introduced with U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), would direct the U.S. Department of Commerce’s SelectUSA program – in collaboration with federal agencies and state economic development organizations, such as the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) – to develop strategies to attract investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturers and supply chains. The introduction of this bill comes amid the global shortage of semiconductor technologies that has caused major disruptions for a wide range of industries including manufacturers and automakers in Michigan.
“The ongoing semiconductor chip shortage has exposed an overreliance on foreign manufacturers for these technologies, which are critical to both our economic and national security,” said Senator Peters, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. “This bill will help onshore semiconductor production by bolstering our efforts on the state and federal level to increase investment in American manufacturing. I’ll continue working to strengthen our semiconductor supply chain resilience to create good-paying American jobs and protect our national security.”
“Our nation’s crippling chip shortage is not only devastating to hardworking American businesses, but poses a threat to our national security by Communist China’s increasing aggression in this industry,” said Senator Scott. “Now more than ever, it’s critical that we bolster the United States’ ability to be self-sufficient in our domestic semiconductor supply chain and help our nation become more competitive on a global scale. I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.”
“As global demands continue to grow and evolve across every phase of the semiconductor process, it is critical that we find innovative opportunities for public/private collaboration as we work to keep the future of this industry planted firmly in the U.S.,” said Quentin L. Messer, Jr., CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “We are pleased to support Senator Peters and his colleagues in championing these efforts to strengthen national security and create transformational economic opportunities both here in Michigan and throughout the nation.”
The SelectUSA program was established by President Obama in 2011 to improve federal efforts that attract job-creating business investments in the United States and support U.S. firms. Peters’ bill comes amid a report issued in June by the Biden Administration, which emphasized that the SelectUSA program could be leveraged to strengthen private sector investments across the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain.
The Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act of 2021 would direct the SelectUSA program to engage with state-level economic development organizations about how they are attracting foreign direct investment to onshore activities related to semiconductor manufacturing, and identify what resource gaps or other challenges they face in achieving that goal. SelectUSA would then be required to develop strategies to increase investments in semiconductor manufacturing.
Peters has repeatedly pressed for action to address the semiconductor shortage crisis. Peters, who serves on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, secured multiple provisions in the competitiveness package that passed the Senate this year to address the semiconductor shortage – particularly for the future. Peters worked closely with U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) on provisions to create a $2 billion supplemental incentive fund to support the domestic production of mature semiconductor technologies in the coming years and will ensure that semiconductor projects that support 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.
As the authors of the $2 billion supplemental incentive fund provision, Peters and Stabenow recently urged Congressional leadership to ensure their provision is included in the final competitiveness package. Peters also led a letter to the Taiwanese government urging it to increase chip production and do everything possible to mitigate the ongoing chip shortage. Peters has raised this supply chain disruption repeatedly with numerous Biden Administration officials in conversations both before and after President Biden took office – including during a roundtable discussion with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Michigan last month.
In the Build Back Better Act, Peters is also working to establish an office within the Department of Commerce that would monitor supply chains and the U.S. industrial base, as well as take steps to mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities.
###
