The US Senate has voted to move ahead with proposed legislation that will see billions of dollars in subsidies and tax credits chucked at the chip industry.
The Senate has begun debating on the bill which will attempt to ease the supply chain problems which started with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The big idea is to decrease the reliance on Asia for semiconductor supply, with chip shortages hurting the world’s biggest vendors and their resellers over the past couple of years.
Senate aides said the measures include around $54 billion in subsidies for US semiconductor companies, and a new four-year 25 percent tax credit to encourage companies to build plants in the United States estimated to be worth about $24 billion.
Intel CEO Kicking Pat Gelsinger said the US needed to be less dependent on Asia for chips. Chipzilla is spending $20 billion on a new factory in Ohio, which could grow to $100 billion.
