US and India plan chip collaboration as South Asian nation seeks to close technological gap with China
- A memorandum of understanding focuses on information-sharing and policy dialogue, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said
- India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government sees an opportunity to close the tech gap with China as Western investors sour on Beijing’s crackdowns
The US and India will sign an agreement to boost coordination of their chip-industry incentive plans and are discussing the best ways to avoid over-subsidisation, as the South Asian nation looks to boost its role in the global technology supply chain.
The memorandum of understanding focuses on information-sharing and policy dialogue, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters on Thursday. While she said there were no specific investment commitments by US firms to announce, American companies are optimistic about the future of ties with India, said Raimondo, who touted the benefits from greater collaboration on chips between the two governments.
“We would like to see India achieve its aspirations to play a larger role” in the electronics supply chain, Raimondo told reporters on a week-long trip that includes meetings with Indian public- and private-sector leaders in New Delhi, as well as conversations between American and Indian corporate executives.
Raimondo’s department is leading the way in pouring about US$52 billion into the US semiconductor industry, which she frames as a key to American competitiveness and national security to reduce the nation’s dependence on chips from Taiwan and Asia more broadly. Commerce also applied broad export controls on chipmaking technology for China last year to address concerns about the threat to US strategic interests from its top global rival.
India’s geopolitical importance to the US and its allies has grown as American policymakers seek to contain China’s growing assertiveness, with an increased focus on the so-called Quad grouping that includes Japan and Australia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government sees an opportunity to close India’s tech gap with China, as Western investors and corporations sour on Beijing’s crackdowns on the private sector.
Nevertheless, Raimondo, who is travelling with executives from 10 leading US companies, sees “unbridled enthusiasm and optimism for how we can generate jobs in both of our countries and both share the benefits of a more resilient supply chain”, she said.