CHIPS ARE FALLING

Delay again thwarts Joe’s semiconductor plan

President Biden suffered another major blow in his push to get high-tech computer chips made in the United States amid growing tensions with China — while his highly touted CHIPS Act has doled out a mere .03% of the $100 billion set aside since he signed it into law 16 months ago.

Samsung said Tuesday it will delay production at its new chip manufacturing facility in Texas until 2025 — the second semiconductor giant to postpone assembly plans this year despite the Biden administration’s efforts to increase domestic supplies.

The South Korean electronics giant was initially scheduled to begin massively scaling up production and manufacturing at its plant in Taylor in the second half of 2024, according to a report in the Seoul Economic Daily cited by Bloomberg.

Samsung didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Samsung’s delay comes on the heels of its top rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., announcing in July that it would postpone production at its new Arizona facility from late 2024 until 2025.

TSMC, which produces chips for tech giants including Apple and Nvidia, said the delay was due to the company’s difficulties in finding skilled workers as well as dealing with higher-than-anticipated expenses.

The delays by the world’s two leading contract chipmakers could undermine the administration’s attempts to bolster domestic manufacturing of semiconductors in order to compete with China.

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Biden that he intends to end Taiwan’s decades-long de facto independence — peacefully, if possible, as The Post reported.

Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS Act in August 2022 partly out of concerns that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan could deprive the world of advanced computer chips and plunge the US into a recession.

However, the only investment the government has made so far has been a $35 million grant to BAE Systems to increase production at a New Hampshire factory making chips for military aircraft, including F-15 and F-35 jets, Bloomberg reported.

The Commerce Department’s choice of a military contractor instead of a conventional chip manufacturer reveals the national-security focus of the law, as more and more weapons systems depend on advanced chips that could be decisive in both preventing and fighting wars.

Slow going

Biden has made these financial commitments part of his pitch to voters ahead of the 2024 elections, saying his policies have energized the US economy.

But impediments like environmental-permit issues have slowed greenlighting funding for domestic chip projects, Bloomberg reported.

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, New York Gov. Hochul announced that tech giant IBM and semiconductor manufacturer Micron Technology will invest $10 billion in a state-of-the-art chip research facility in Albany.

Funding from the CHIPS Act is expected to help pay for machines that will be used to manufacture the next-generation chips, The Post previously reported.

Separately, Israel’s government agreed to give Intel a $3.2 billion grant for a new $25 billion chip plant it plans to build in southern Israel, both sides said Tuesday, in what is the largest investment ever by a company in Israel.