Trump set to delay, cut CHIPS Act payments
President Trump’s White House is looking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards, according to a Reuters report.
This could include cuts in payments and changes in the terms that payments are conditional upon, the report indicated. Where and how large the cuts will be is not yet clear but President Trump is reported to be frustrated with companies that have agreed to accept US government subsidies to build facilities in the US and then announced investment abroad, particularly in China.
Investment outside the US is allowed under the terms of the CHIPS Act as it stands.
Some of the overseas chip companies that are set to benefit under the CHIPS Act – TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix – already have chip manufacturing facilities in China. US chip giant Intel is set to receive almost US$8 billion under the CHIPS Act.
So far under the 2022 Act there has been the allocation, but so far little disbursement, of US$39 billion towards rebuilding the domestic semiconductor manufacturing base and securing the semiconductor supply chain.
Reuters cited unnamed sources saying that the incoming administration is also opposed to certain terms in the subsidy contracts such as clauses requiring the use of unionized labor to build factories and the provision of childcare for factory workers.
“The CHIPS Program Office has told us that certain conditions that do not align with President Trump’s executive orders and policies are now under review for all CHIPS Direct Funding Agreements,” Reuters reported GlobalWafers spokesperson Leah Peng saying in a statement. GlobalWafers is a Taiwanese manufacturer of silicon wafers.
Related links and articles:
News articles:
Analog Devices, Coherent mop up last of CHIPs Act cash
US government trims Intel’s CHIPS Act subsidy to US$7.86 billion
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