US Semiconductor Industry Forms Trade Group... Pressures Legislation for Funding Support

SIAC Launches... Sends Letters to Upper and Lower House Representatives Requesting Support Measures
Automobile Companies Excluded... Potential Conflicts Among Industries

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] U.S. semiconductor manufacturers and consumer companies have formed a congressional lobbying group to promote the expansion of semiconductor production within the United States. Some analysts interpret this as a power struggle between automobile companies and information technology (IT) companies, both major consumers of semiconductors.

According to U.S. media on the 11th (local time), the Semiconductor Industry Association of America (SIAC) was launched on this day. In a letter sent to representatives of both the House and Senate, SIAC demanded legislative funding support at the congressional level to secure the semiconductor supply chain within the U.S.

Specifically, they argued that Congress should enact semiconductor legislation to establish support measures that promote semiconductor manufacturing and research investment at the federal level. Both the semiconductor industry and consumers are backing the $50 billion semiconductor investment plan announced by the Joe Biden administration and are pressuring Congress to pass the bill.

SIAC particularly claimed that "since countries worldwide are providing large-scale subsidies to attract new semiconductor factories and research facilities, the cost of establishing such facilities in the U.S. is 20-40% higher compared to overseas." SIAC's position is that this is why the U.S. semiconductor market share, which was 37% in 1990, has fallen to 12% today.

SIAC was formed as an alliance of existing semiconductor association members such as Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD, along with semiconductor-consuming companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Verizon, and Microsoft. Automobile companies, which have been vocal about damages caused by semiconductor shortages, were excluded from SIAC's formation.

Regarding this, The New York Times reported that this appears to be a semiconductor industry-level response following earlier demands from automobile-related groups for increased investment in automotive semiconductors.