WASHINGTON — Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo on Tuesday unveiled a strategy for the Commerce Department’s disbursal of $50 billion that Congress approved to boost domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips, saying she expected the first money to flow in the spring of 2023.
“With this funding we are going to make sure that the United States is never again in a position where our national security interests are compromised or key industries are immobilized due to our inability to produce essential semiconductors here at home,” Raimondo said at a White House news briefing.
A severe shortage of chips because of disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic drove up prices of cars and household goods in the past year, contributing to inflation that is running at its fastest pace in about 40 years.
Raimondo said the U.S. uses 25 percent of the world’s cutting-edge chips but doesn’t make any of them. Advanced chips are mostly made in Taiwan, but China is ramping up design and production of such chips as well.