Editorial | Semiconductor push by US against China will have no winners
- American attempts to decouple from chips trade by boosting domestic manufacturing threatens innovation and carries a high price for consumers
Semiconductor chips are perhaps the best example of what a globalised market can achieve.
At the core of electronic devices, they enable advances in telecommunications, computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, transport, medical equipment and military systems.
Demand and the cost and complexity of production have created highly specialised global supply chains and open trade to ensure components can be quickly manufactured and shipped to where they are needed.
Washington’s belief that China’s involvement in the industry threatens national security and its push to decouple through boosting domestic manufacturing threatens technological advances while carrying a significant price tag for companies and consumers.
Technology has been a key area of concern for the United States as it tries to maintain geopolitical, economic and military dominance. Legislation known as the Chips and Science Act, approved by Congress and set to be signed into law by President Joe Biden, intends to go a significant way towards that aim.
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US Senate passes Chips and Science Act to compete with China’s semiconductor industry
The US semiconductor industry would receive more than US$52 billion in grants for research and manufacturing and support for regional technology hubs.
