Latest Biden chip deal highlights U.S. semiconductor successes

With this week’s $6.4 billion deal by the U.S. and South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics to draw semiconductor expertise to American shores, the administration of President Joe Biden has highlighted another win under the CHIPS and Science Act.

On Monday, Samsung became the latest beneficiary of the Biden administration’s efforts to shore up precarious supply chains and protect its national security interests amid geopolitical concerns over Chinese chip advances.

From a new facility in Texas, Samsung will produce chips for aerospace, consumer technology and automotive applications, the company announced. One of the world’s leading advanced chipmakers, Samsung has also committed to directly manufacture semiconductors in the U.S. for the Department of Defense.

Security has been a key motivation behind much of the U.S. movement around semiconductors. After the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread supply chain snags, exposing their fragile nature, access to semiconductors became a political priority for governments and politicians, including in the U.S.

Joel Martin, executive research leader at HFS Research, said such factors had powered the U.S. semiconductor push.

“Information security, data security and geopolitics are all coming together to drive a repatriation of the chip industry to the U.S. — given fuel by the Biden administration’s 2022 CHIPS and Science Act,” he said.