US to grant Samsung up to $6.4 bil. for chip plants
— The U.S. government announced a plan Monday to award Samsung Electronics up to $6.4 billion in grants to support the Korean tech giant’s chipmaking investment in central Texas, as it strives to strengthen domestic semiconductor production.
The U.S. Commerce Department said it has reached a nonbinding preliminary agreement with Samsung to provide the grants under the CHIPS and Science Act to back the company’s expected investment of more than $40 billion, in the establishment of a “leading-edge semiconductor ecosystem” in the state.
The proposed investment would be split across multiple projects at two separate locations in Texas, including the construction of an advanced manufacturing cluster in Taylor and the expansion of the existing facilities in Austin.
U.S. President Joe Biden touted Samsung’s investment in light of the decadesold alliance between Korea and the United States, while noting that the investment would support the creation of at least 21,500 jobs.
“Today’s announcement of Samsung’s investment in the United States is another example of how my Investing in America agenda and the U.S.ROK alliance is creating opportunity in every corner of the country,” he said in a statement. ROK stands for Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.
He reiterated that the 2022 CHIPS Act is designed to restore U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and help maintain access to chips.
“Well before the law was passed, I was working to address our supply chain vulnerabilities,” he said. “This included my trip to the Republic of Korea, where I visited Samsung’s Pyeongtaek campus to see one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the world.”