News President Trump wants to kill the CHIPS Act — says chipmakers are coming to the USA to avoid tariffs

[Admin]

President Trump tells the Senate President to get rid of the CHIPS Act and use the money allocated for it to reduce debt instead.

President Trump wants to kill the CHIPS Act — says chipmakers are coming to the USA to avoid tariffs : Read more

 

[-Fran-]

LOL.

Welp. Nothing much more to say, really 🤷

Regards.

 

[Jame5]

have likely spurned big companies to start moving their manufacturing operations into the U.S

Spurred, as in motivated.

Spurned is to reject with disdain. If it caused them to spurn moving their manufacturing to the U.S. It means they are actively moving it elsewhere instead.

 

[redgarl]

By "CHIPMAKERS", they are simply implying "TSMC"...

I would not be surprised to see this recommendation of killing the chip act actually coming from TSMC to POTUS to kill Intel.

 

[bit_user]

Trump is applying 1950's-era thinking to this problem. Yes, it matters where these things are physically made, but it ultimately matters even more who has the IP! Some of that CHIPS funding was set aside for new R&D, a lot of which is being done by startups. If those startups can't get funded, then we could lose out on the IP development needed to sustain the pipeline of semiconductor technology.

On a related note, does anyone know whether DARPA funding has been cut?

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-i...-contract-to-develop-new-types-of-transistors
​

 

[bit_user]

... corporate welfare.

But I'll take it. I'm sick of seeing the lobbyists win.

CHIPS seemed to me like it was pretty well-designed not to be simply corporate welfare. Meanwhile, the 2019 tax cuts are being extended and increased, much of which does directly benefit corporations and with far fewer (if any) strings attached.

 

[George³]

There are many and all kinds of government aid programs that are being investigated for suspension, in order to reduce government spending in the United States. Just because such an investigation is happening, does not mean that they will necessarily be stopped. But it is possible that it will happen, or at least that the funds will be reduced, after proving that companies did not actually spend as much money on operations as they claimed. And companies always lie about their costs.

 

[bit_user]

Just because such an investigation is happening, does not mean that they will necessarily be stopped.

He didn't announce an investigation. His objection is ideological. He prefers to use tariffs as an incentive, rather than subsidies.

Based on the funding cuts that have happened so far, I think it's safe to say that any CHIPS money not yet allocated is effectively gone. The only question is what will happen to the funds that have actually been committed.

Also, as reported yesterday, the team responsible for ensuring that milestones have been reached and that the funds are being properly spent just got hit with a 40% reduction in staff.

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-i...e-two-fifths-of-staff-to-be-terminated-report
​

That's not a move you'd make, if you truly believed the funds simply needed better oversight.

And companies always lie about their costs.

That would be a crime.

 

[JRStern]

This is not thought through. Yeah, I know that doesn't surprise a lot of people.
I already said recently, I'd have chosen non-cash ways to implement the Chips Act too, but just tariffs won't do it. Nations on the other side of the tariff wall will implement their own and trade with each other, because the US will remain about the highest-cost place of doing business for the foreseeable future. Nobody will design and make chips in the US and sell them outside our borders. IOW heads right for the worst case. SMH

 

[bluvg]

At the risk of being told not to stray off topic into politics when the very topic at hand is inextricably political, I will nonetheless attempt to comment as apolitically as possible given the topic:

This type of uncertainty from one 4-year administration to the next leaves manufacturers operating over much longer timelines holding the bag. I can only imagine the frustration on their part; it's entirely damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't: the money was provided in tranches based on milestones for the precise reason of accountability and addressing govt waste and fraud, and now the accountability problem is "they weren't spending it fast enough"? I can only imagine the frustration and head shaking among the manufacturers.

This makes good, responsible decision-making nearly impossible, even for companies with the best-faith efforts and intentions regarding US operations.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

People in this thread are treading mighty close to the line here. There are already some ejections for crossing the line into politics and there will be more if the current line is continued. Cut out the politics of ANY kind and stick to the non political side of the story or this thread will be locked and violators sanctioned as deemed necessary.

 

[evdjj3j]

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