The United States will announce the "Chip Act" business application process, scheduled for February 23

According to a Wall Street Journal report on the 8th, the U.S. Department of Commerce will announce the application process for companies related to the "Chip Act" on February 23. Specifically, the instructional session will include specific steps companies need to take to apply for funding, as well as a timeline for when grants will be issued.

According to reports, the briefing will be delivered by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo (Gina Raimondo), outlining how the Biden administration plans to use the "Chip Act" to maintain the United States' technological leadership and protect its position on national security. Following the announcement in February, information on material suppliers and equipment makers will be released in the spring to support chipmakers, Commerce Department officials said.

The report pointed out that the US government hopes to use these subsidies to encourage chip manufacturers to establish and modernize manufacturing facilities in the United States, so as to reverse the situation that chip manufacturers have gone abroad for many years to reduce costs. According to reports, this is bound to trigger a competition between US and non-US manufacturers for US$52 billion in policy funding.

Doubts remain at home about the new U.S. attempt at industrial policy, including how to allocate funds between U.S. and foreign companies, how to ensure the international competitiveness of U.S. facilities amid high labor costs, and how to prevent China from the program benefit from. Also, coordinating subsidy policies among countries to prevent future oversupply is problematic, as the European Union, South Korea and Japan have all rolled out their own policies to incentivize investment in their own chip industries.

Some semiconductor and equipment makers have previously announced plans to expand facilities, spurred by "Chip Act" subsidies. Intel Corp. is investing $20 billion to build two new fabs in Ohio, while TSMC plans to spend $40 billion expanding its factory in Arizona. On January 9, according to DigiTimes citing sources from semiconductor equipment suppliers, TSMC and GF’s U.S. factories will receive a large amount of U.S. government subsidies, but the subsidy has not yet been implemented.

Biden signed the "Chip Act" in August last year, allocating $52.7 billion for semiconductor manufacturing to help reduce the United States' dependence on foreign-made chips by supporting domestic production and research and development.

The fund includes $39 billion in manufacturing incentives and $13.2 billion in R&D and workforce development. It also provides investment tax credits to cover 25% of a company's capital expenditure costs.