On February 21, local time, American chip giant Intel held its first wafer foundry event in San Jose, California. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said at the event that if the United States wants to "lead the world" in the field of semiconductors, it will need to further increase subsidies and investment, such as the enactment of the second "CHIPS and Science Act" (hereinafter referred to as the "CHIPS Act"). Biden revealed on February 19 that he was negotiating more than $10 billion in subsidies to Intel Corp. to push semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States.
Chips are the core of the global future industry, and the development of the chip industry is inseparable from the joint participation of all countries around the world, but with the intensification of international competition and the intensification of global competition in chips, many countries led by the United States continue to introduce discriminatory industrial policies and increase huge subsidies, starting a global semiconductor "arms race".
The United States will also increase chip subsidies
In order to promote the "reshoring" of chip manufacturing to the mainland, Biden introduced the "Chips Act" in August 2022, promising to provide $52.7 billion in subsidies for the research and production of semiconductors in the United States over five years, of which $39 billion will subsidize semiconductor production. Up to now, although more than 170 chip companies around the world have applied for subsidies under the Act, the U.S. Department of Commerce has only issued three smaller subsidies. On Feb. 19, GF, the world's third-largest foundry chipmaker, received $1.5 billion, the largest of those grants.
GF's chips are widely used in satellite and space communications, the defense industry, and automotive blind spot detection and collision warning systems, as well as Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity. The $1.5 billion incentive in the U.S.** will be used to build and expand GF's facilities in New York and Vermont. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, "The chips that GF will produce in these new factories are critical to the U.S. ”
According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, the American chip giant Intel is also one of the companies that have applied for financial subsidies from the "CHIPS Act", and Biden is currently negotiating more than $10 billion in subsidies to Intel Corporation. This will likely be the largest grant in the U.S.** program to channel semiconductor manufacturing "reshoring" home, which could include loans and direct grants.
Intel previously announced plans to spend tens of billions of dollars to build a new factory in Ohio, which could become the world's largest chip factory. In early February, Intel revealed that it had planned to postpone the completion of the plant until 2026, and it was speculated that the delay in the payment of subsidies from the United States was one of the reasons for delaying the progress of Intel's factory construction. However, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said on February 21 that the announcement of receiving the subsidy would be released "soon". U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo, who is responsible for advancing the appropriations, also said on the same day that "Intel plays a very important role in this (semiconductor industry) revival and should be prepared for the upcoming announcement of the 'CHIPS Act' appropriations."
Raimondo also revealed that a "chip bill" alone is not enough for the United States to regain the leadership of the semiconductor chain. "If we want to lead the world, there's going to have to be some kind of consistent investment – whether you call it Chips Two or whatever," she added. We've fallen too far behind. ”
Many countries are still escalating the "chip subsidy war".
Chips are now at the heart of an increasingly fierce technical cold war. Qatar's Al Jazeera recently reported that the semiconductor industry is the focus of the current geopolitical tensions and between countries. In fact, under the coercion and temptation of the United States, many countries are still escalating the "chip subsidy war".
South Korea** has been seeking to occupy a leading position in the global chip market, and has continuously increased its support for the domestic chip industry. On January 15 this year, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced plans to build the world's largest semiconductor industry cluster near Seoul, with a total investment of 622 trillion won (about 3.) by 20474 trillion yuan), and 16 chip factories were established, including 13 wafer fabrication plants and 3 wafer R&D plants.
Since Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida took office in 2021, he has also continued to attract global semiconductor industry giants, using subsidy measures to attract companies from all over the world to build factories in Japan, in an effort to promote the revival of Japan's semiconductor industry. According to Japan's "Kumamoto Daily News", TSMC's Japanese subsidiary JASM is building the "first factory" in Kumamoto Prefecture will hold an opening ceremony on February 24, and mass production is expected by the end of this year. In this regard, South Korea's "East Asia**" commented that it took only 20 months to build a semiconductor factory, which is an unprecedented "lightning speed" in Japan, which has many regulations and is conservative. Among them, the support of Japan** is indispensable.
The European Union is also accelerating the development of its semiconductor industry and strengthening the research and development of semiconductor-related technologies and products, in order to establish a self-guaranteed semiconductor ** chain system. On September 21, 2023, the EU "Chips Act" officially came into effect, and it is expected that by 2030, the EU will invest a total of 43 billion euros to support chip production, pilot projects and start-ups in EU member states. Of this amount, 11 billion euros will be invested in the research and development of advanced process chip technology.
The "chip war" may lead to the fragmentation of the global ** chain
Semiconductors are the backbone of the modern economy and are essential for telecommunications, defense, and artificial intelligence. Robin Klinglervidra, associate dean and associate professor of the School of Entrepreneurship and Sustainability at King's College London, pointed out that the United States is pushing for "Made in America" semiconductors precisely because of this systemic importance. The military power of today's countries is even directly dependent on chips. The report of the Center for Strategic and International Studies also believes that all major defense systems and platforms in the United States rely on semiconductors, and the "chip war" is a matter of economic and security dominance.
Although many countries have increased investment in the semiconductor industry to promote the "return of the industry" to the mainland, so far there is no semiconductor factory in the world that can produce chips in a self-sufficient way. Qatar's Al Jazeera analysis said that given the complexity and interdependence of semiconductor production in various countries, the disruption of the ** chain will lead to the production of many technological products becoming vulnerable.
Li Yin, an associate researcher at Fudan University's School of International Relations and Public Affairs, said that the semiconductor industry strictly follows the law of large-scale manufacturing evolution and creates the most fragmented global value chain. The U.S. CHIPS and Science Act attempts to reshape the global value chain of semiconductors, and high subsidies will bring about a "reshoring" of manufacturing in the short term, but in the long run, it may be difficult to reverse the trend of industrial evolution.
If each country and region does its own thing, the final result will definitely make globalization stagnate, and it will also make the global semiconductor chain fragmented, which is an inevitable phenomenon. Wei Shaojun, a professor at the School of Integrated Circuits of Tsinghua University, pointed out that the "America First" strategy pursued by the United States and a series of oppressive measures and means taken when the global chip shortage also made the major countries and regions of the semiconductor industry worried, and they have launched their own "chip bills", which in fact launched an "arms race" in the semiconductor field.
*: China Youth Daily reporter Zhao Anqi).