The Commerce Department and GlobalFoundries (GF) signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide approximately $1.5 billion in funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen U.S. domestic supply chain resilience, bolster U.S. competitiveness in semiconductor production, and support economic and national security capabilities. The proposed funding would support a new facility, capacity expansion, and the modernization of GF’s U.S. manufacturing sites in New York and Vermont. Those manufacturing facilities produce essential communications, auto and defense semiconductor technologies.
President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen U.S. supply chains, create good-paying jobs, and advance U.S. economic and national security. Monday’s news is the third PMT announcement the Department of Commerce has made under the CHIPS and Science Act.
GF chips are fundamental to everyday applications that impact all Americans, from smartphones to secure and reliable WiFi and cellular connections, to automotive blind spot detection and collision warnings, and electric vehicles that last longer between charges.
There are only four companies outside of China that provide current and mature foundry capabilities at the scale of GF – and GF is the only one of those companies that is headquartered in the United States, according to the Department of Commerce. Shortages of some of these semiconductors caused major disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Semiconductors are in everything from our cell phones, to refrigerators, to cars, and our most advanced weapons systems, and access to them carries important economic and national security implications. It was the shortages of semiconductors during the COVID-19 pandemic that raised prices for consumers and led to the shutdown of automobile manufacturing sites across the country,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “We’re working to onshore these critical technologies in order to bolster the supply of domestic chips that are essential to electronics, manufacturing cars, and national defense systems in New York, Vermont, and states across the country.”
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