By Natalie Mojica
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, convened a hearing on developing next-generation technology for innovation on March 23. The hearing examined the relationship between American competitiveness and semiconductors.
Witnesses included Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron, Tim Archer, President and CEO of Lam Research, and Preston Feight, CEO and PACCAR.
In her opening statements, Sen. Cantwell assessed how the cost of the chip shortage is affecting consumers. There’s a 41% increase in the cost of used cars, a 12% increase for the cost of new cars, and a 12% increase in the cost of network equipment. Car companies don’t have enough semiconductors for new cars which has led to a shortage. Because of this, consumers ran to buy used cars, inadvertently raising their market price.
On the national security front, EUROPOL reported that counterfeiters are also exploiting the semiconductor shortage by introducing fake chips into the market, raising the chances that defense systems can be compromised. Sen. Cantwell emphasized that relying heavily on one country or one company creates a large target for hackers. She endorsed the USICA bill (United States Competition and Innovation Act) and warned that not addressing the shortages today will lead to a more compromised future.
“Semiconductors underpin nearly every aspect of our national and economic security. And yet we are short on the number of advanced logic chips building at scale here in the United States of America. That has to change,” she said.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) followed and noted that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the problems of the supply chains we depend on for public health, national security, and economic welfare—and semiconductors are at the “lifeblood of this.” By neglecting the semiconductor industry for decades, America’s share has gone from nearly 40 percent in 1990 to about 12 percent today. Foreign governments like China have taken control of this gap left in the industry, leaving us more dependent on them for innovation.
“The CHIPS Act, which would provide tens of billions of dollars to incentivize domestic chip manufacturing, stabilize the semiconductor supply chain and make long term investments…for our part, Senator Cantwell and I helped shepherd USICA to passage in the senate by a 68 to 32 vote,” Sen. Wicker noted.
As witnesses gave their statements, it became evident that not everyone at the hearing was as supportive of the CHIPS Act. However, Gelsinger emphasized that this innovation would truly benefit Americans.
“Every job we create creates an average of 10 other jobs,” Gelsinger said.
