Joe Biden

ICYMI: $5 Billion Semiconductor Investment in Texas Will Create 1500 Jobs, Highlights Urgency of Passing the Bipartisan Innovation Act

June 27, 2022

Today, Taiwan-based tech company GlobalWafers announced a $5 billion investment to build a factory in Sherman, Texas, which will create as many as 1,500 jobs and help to bolster the United States' ability to produce crucial chip components at home. This investment will build the first U.S. silicon wafer-facility in more than two decades.

The investment underscores the importance passing the Bipartisan Innovation Act by this summer, which would provide $52 billion to expand the research, development and domestic production of semiconductors.

"We are really at a tipping point right now in the semiconductor supply chain," said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. "Either the United States is going to be a big winner in that we'll be able to attract a number of companies. Or, if Congress doesn't pass the Chips Act in the next few weeks, then the United States will be a big loser because these companies will go to other countries."

GlobalWafers said the investment in supplying the new U.S.-based chip-production facilities could create as many as 1,500 jobs. "With all of these announcements, there is a very big opportunity for us to be next door to our huge end-customers," said the company's president, Mark England.

Read more below:

Wall Street Journal: Taiwan's GlobalWafers to Invest $5 Billion in New Texas Plant
[6/27/22, Yuka Hayashi]

WASHINGTON—GlobalWafers Co., a Taiwan-based technology company, unveiled a plan on Monday to build a $5 billion factory in Sherman, Texas, to manufacture silicon wafers, a key material used in the production of semiconductors.

The investment, which would receive U.S. government support should Congress pass pending legislation, will contribute to a U.S. effort to boost domestic production of advanced semiconductors and reduce reliance on imports by supplying materials to companies such as Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. These leading semiconductor manufacturers have pledged significant investments in new U.S. factories to make chips to meet strong demand, and to relieve shortages that have disrupted production of a range of products, including automobiles.

The existing U.S. manufacturing capacity of silicon wafers will be able to supply only 20% of the estimated domestic demand by 2025, and the wafers won't be suitable for some of the advanced chips planned to be manufactured at the new production facilities currently being built by Intel, TSMC and Samsung Electronics Co., GlobalWafers said.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said GlobalWafers' investment is a win for the U.S. effort to beef up a weak domestic semiconductor supply chain at a time when major nations, including South Korea, Japan and members of the European Union, are competing to attract new investments with hefty subsidies, part of their own attempts to ensure stable supplies of chips needed for everything from cellphones to rocket launchers.

Congress is currently negotiating legislation that includes roughly $52 billion in funding for expanding domestic semiconductor production as well as research and development. GlobalWafers would be eligible for some of that funding, should Congress pass the bill, known as the Chips Act.

"We are really at a tipping point right now in the semiconductor supply chain," Ms. Raimondo said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

"Either the United States is going to be a big winner in that we'll be able to attract a number of companies," Ms. Raimondo said, "or, if Congress doesn't pass the Chips Act in the next few weeks, then the United States will be a big loser because these companies will go to other countries."

GlobalWafers said the new factory, the first U.S. silicon wafer-facility in more than two decades, will produce 300-millimeter silicon wafers, the starting material for all advanced semiconductors, with production volumes ultimately reaching 1.2 million wafers a month. That is enough to cover all U.S. demand when the planned new semiconductor facilities start production.

GlobalWafers said the investment in supplying the new U.S.-based chip-production facilities could create as many as 1,500 jobs. "With all of these announcements, there is a very big opportunity for us to be next door to our huge end-customers," said the company's president, Mark England.

"Silicon is a very scarce commodity now," Mr. England said. "We have to act."

The rapid growth in demand for microchips has resulted in companies' building new facilities around the world. TSMC, maker of nearly all the advanced chips in Apple Inc.'s products, is spending $100 billion over the next three years to boost its capacity, including new factories in Arizona and Japan.

Intel has pledged to spend $95 billion on new manufacturing capacity in Europe alone, and $20 billion on a new factory in Ohio that could eventually grow to a $100 billion investment. Samsung plans a new $17 billion facility in Texas.

Most advanced semiconductors, as well as silicon wafers, are manufactured in Northeast Asia. In 2021, 92% of the world supply of advanced semiconductors came from one company, TSMC, according to a White House report.

Joseph R. Biden, ICYMI: $5 Billion Semiconductor Investment in Texas Will Create 1500 Jobs, Highlights Urgency of Passing the Bipartisan Innovation Act Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/356621

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