US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short.
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running.
The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial intelligence], and in bringing back good paying manufacturing jobs to the US,” Schumer said in an interview.
Photo: Bloomberg
The US$52 billion semiconductor subsidy program, which received bipartisan support, has spurred more than US$400 billion in investments from companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Intel Corp. When it passed, as a signature piece of former US president Joe Biden’s agenda, it won support from dozens of Republican lawmakers.
Speaking to a joint session of the US Congress on Tuesday night, Trump called for its repeal, to applause from congressional Republicans, including those whose states have benefited.
Republicans control both chambers of the US Congress, but a slim House of Representatives majority, plus an expected Senate filibuster, would make a repeal politically difficult. The legislation has drawn investments to Republican strongholds, such as Ohio and Texas, as well as Schumer’s home state of New York.
The US president has consistently derided a program he characterizes as a waste of government funds, arguing tariffs would achieve the same outcome while filling coffers. Trump pointed to the US$100 billion in new investment planned by TSMC in the US as evidence of the power of tariffs.
Schumer said there have already been benefits with many factories under construction. He said some have already gotten their money, but projects could be put at risk if Trump succeeded in repealing funding.
“That’s why it had such bipartisan support, and I believe that there’ll be an overwhelming number of people in the Senate — Democrat and Republican — who want to keep it,” Schumer added.
Republicans have previously indicated that they want to remove what they see as “social” provisions of the CHIPS Act. That could involve eliminating labor-friendly regulations or environmental requirements.
US Senator Mike Crapo, who heads the Finance Committee, on Wednesday said that he would be open to some adjustments to the act, but opposes a full repeal.
“We’re not looking at that,” Crapo said.
Young called the law “one of the greatest successes of our time,” and said he received assurances from Trump Cabinet nominees both in public and in private that they would carry out the CHIPS Act before he committed to supporting their confirmation.
The Indiana Republican said he reached out to the White House on Tuesday night after Trump’s speech and expressed a willingness to improve the program.
“My expectation is the administration will continue to support this supply chain resiliency and national security initiative,” he said. “If it needs to transfer over to a different model over time, I’m open to that.”
Democratic US Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, whose state is home to several factories planned by TSMC and Intel with CHIPS Act support, said he would be scrutinizing the Trump administration’s work in implementing the law, to ensure none of the money is held back.
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