USA: Biden meeting with CEOs of companies and heads of labor unions

President Joe Biden held a digital conference yesterday with the CEOs of Lockheed Martin Corp, Medtronic PLC and Cummins Inc along with labor union leaders, as part of the administration’s efforts for legislation to boost the US microcircuit manufacturing industry ( chip).

“Congress should pass this bill as soon as possible,” Biden said. “There is a pressing financial need. This bill will decisively boost the production of microcircuits.”

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader in Congress, said he was delaying a procedural vote because of bad weather until today.

The bill provides about $52 billion in subsidies for US microcircuit production, as well as a new four-year tax break to encourage companies to build microcircuit manufacturing facilities in the country. This tax cut is priced at $24 billion. The same bill also provides for the implementation of a $1 billion business assistance program “to address problems in local communities.”

Last week, the Senate supported by a vote of 64 to 34 a procedural measure for a revised and more painless version of the bill.

Lockheed Martin CEO James Ticklett told Biden that a dynamic microchip supply “is critical to both national security and the health of the defense industrial base and the aerospace industry as a whole.”

The bill aims to relieve pressure from a shortage of microcircuits that has caused production problems in industries including the automotive industry, consumer electronics, medical equipment, and technologically advanced weapons systems.

“This is an investment in the U.S.,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who took part in the same digital meeting. industrial equipment.

It is part of a broader government-wide effort, responding to a rising China, to ease pressures from supply chain problems by reducing the dependence of US industries on overseas chip production.

Senator Bernie Sanders criticized the bill as a “blank check” to the “excessively profitable” microcircuit manufacturing industry, which receives government money to replace US factories that have closed over the past 20 years.

Biden rejected criticism that the legislation is a concession to big companies, stressing that the Commerce Department will be able to revoke funding from companies that do not honor the commitments they make.

In June 2021, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill of $250 billion to increase spending on technology research and development. The House of Representatives voted on this version of the bill in February.

Source: Capital

You may also like

BTC price rose above $ 95,000
Top News
David

BTC price rose above $ 95,000

The Bitcoin course (BTC) repeated an attempt to overcome the maximum of spring, set on March 2 at $ 95,043,