While many Americans have heard of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which provides federal grants and subsidies for domestic tech companies looking to increase clean energy and related output, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 is a similar law targeted more toward bolstering national security. The CHIPS Act is aimed specifically at semiconductors, which are needed to make advanced microchips. During the Covid pandemic of 2020-21, the United States suffered from a shortage of such microchips due. When companies around the world shut down due to Covid-mandated closures, the U.S. faced supply chain crises. While the supply chain situation has drastically improved since then, policymakers want to ensure that we have a steady domestic supply of microchips to keep our vehicles, appliances, and equipment running.
Using the CHIPS Act, TTM Technologies in central New York is getting a $30 million federal investment to expand its output of semiconductors. This influx of money, which is part of the Defense Production Act Title III program, will create 400 new full-time jobs for TTM’s Syracuse operations. The company already has 200,000 square feet of factory space planned to deliver high-quality printed circuit boards to go inside equipment like military weapons systems and touts its 60 years of experience delivering high-tech goods to the United States government. The California-based company also has operations in Britain, Japan, and Taiwan to assist our geopolitical allies.
Circuit Boards Are Crucial Military Equipment
The circuit boards printed by TTM Technologies are vital to the defense industry, which uses them in electronic equipment ranging from weapons to communications to night vision goggles. Unfortunately, the U.S. currently does not make nearly enough semiconductors domestically to meet its own demand. More than half of the world’s semiconductors are made in China, with another 13 percent or so being made in nearby Taiwan. If a conflict erupts between China and Taiwan, the U.S. could be cut off from about 70 percent of the global market for semiconductors, hindering its ability to produce high-tech military equipment.
Critics are concerned that too much of our military’s infrastructure, including important weapons systems like aircraft carriers, relies on Chinese-made components. Some fear that China could remotely shut down some of these components in the event of a conflict between our two nations, hindering our defense. To avoid a “kill switch” scenario, proponents of the CHIPS and Science Act and the Defense Production Act want to ensure that the vast majority of our critical electronics are made domestically.
Schumer and Others Aiming for “Semiconductor Superhighway”
In addition to national defense and the creation of hundreds of jobs, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the current Senate Majority Leader, hopes the CHIPS funding will help central New York become a “semiconductor superhighway” for North America. With Silicon Valley in California and Austin, Texas, being widely seen as current tech hubs in the United States, having a third tech hub could provide crucial diversification and redundancy in the event of a natural disaster or localized economic crisis. A third tech hub would also create competition that would drive down prices of semiconductors, microchips, and other tech components, benefiting virtually all consumers and producers.
Image credit: TTM Technologies
