Overview
The U.S Department of Commerce expects to release additional information pertaining to the implementation strategy of the CHIPS for America Act in the coming months. CHIPS for America will funnel $39B toward manufacturing and $11B toward research and development. These investments will return leading-edge manufacturing to the U.S, expand capacity to produce chips and critical supplies, and reinforce U.S strengths in chip design and equipment. The result will create a domestic ecosystem that supports national and economic security while growing the U.S workforce and strengthening communities.
Principles
The following are the principles set forth by the CHIPS for America Act:
Meet economic and national security
Ensure long-term leadership in the sector
Strengthen and expand regional clusters
Catalyze private sector investment
Generate benefits for a range of stakeholders and communities
Protect taxpayer dollars
Manufacturing
$39B will be focused on incentivizing the expansion of manufacturing capacity for semiconductors and advancing U.S technical leadership. A goal is that this expansion will attract large-scale investments in advanced technologies and protect taxpayer dollars. In turn, this will spur expanded capacity for manufacturing mature and current-gen chips, new and specialty technologies, and supplies to the industry.
Research and Development
$11B will be invested in Research and Development to create an integrated ecosystem that drives innovation through partnerships with industry, academia, government, and allies. Activities will be informed by the Industrial Advisory Committee comprised of leaders from industry, customer base, academia, and think tanks. Individuals sitting on this committee will be announced in the coming months.
Notice of Funding Announcement Details
The Department of Commerce expects to announce a funding opportunity in February of 2023 and deadlines will be on a rolling basis with a two-phase approach; pre-application and full application.
Eligibility for manufacturing incentives includes private or non-profit organizations, and consortia that can finance, construct, expand, or modernize, facilities for fabrication, assembly, testing, packaging, production, research and developing semiconductors, materials to produce semiconductors or manufacturing equipment.
Successful applicants will show to what extent they can increase scale and attract private capital, leverage collaborations to build-out ecosystems, secure additional incentives and support build clusters, establish a secure and resilient supply chain, expand the workforce pipeline, and create inclusive opportunities for businesses and communities.
Next Steps:
More details will be released in the coming months on the implementation strategy. In the meantime, the Department of Commerce encourages potential applicants to consider smaller projects as well as larger projects for incentives. Small and medium-sized manufacturers are encouraged to participate on their own or as part of a consortium. It is also encouraged to strategize how disadvantaged communities can be part of your application along with workforce development. Finally, applicants should consider how to what extent they can fulfill the goals of the programs and strengthen their proposals to increase their impact.
A recording of the briefing can be found here along with slides.
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