USA ratchets up the 21st century Microchip race.

[Lake X Kid]

Spurred by the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, this week, companies have announced nearly $50 billion in additional investments in American semiconductor manufacturing, bringing total business investment to nearly $150 billion.

Micron is announcing a $40 billion investment in memory chip manufacturing, critical for computers and electronic devices, which will create up to 40,000 new jobs in construction and manufacturing. This investment alone will bring the U.S. market share of memory chip production from less than 2 percent to up to 10 percent over the next decade.

Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries are announcing a new partnership that includes $4.2 billion to manufacture chips in an expansion of GlobalFoundries’ upstate New York facility. Qualcomm, the leading fabless semiconductor company in the world, announced plans to increase semiconductor production in the U.S. by up to 50 percent over the next five years.

[Lake X Kid]

[Lake X Kid]

China on Wednesday criticized a U.S. law to encourage processor chip production in the United States and reduce reliance on Asian suppliers as a threat to trade and an attack on Chinese business.

The law signed this week by President Joe Biden promises $52 billion in grants and other aid to investors in U.S. chip factories. It responds in part to warnings that supplies might be disrupted if China attacks Taiwan, which produces up to 90% of high-end chips. China's ruling Communist Party claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory.

The measure will "disrupt international trade and distort global semiconductor supply chains," said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin. "China firmly opposes that."