U.S. semiconductor company Micron has decided to increase its investment in the United States compared to the plan announced last year during the previous Joe Biden administration.
On June 12 (local time), Micron announced that it plans to expand its U.S. investment to $200 billion. Of this amount, $150 billion will be invested in memory semiconductor manufacturing, which is an increase of $30 billion compared to its previously announced investment plan, according to Micron.
Previously, during the Joe Biden administration, Micron had announced a total investment of $125 billion to build semiconductor plants in New York and Idaho. In response, the U.S. Department of Commerce decided in December last year to provide Micron with $6.165 billion in CHIPS Act subsidies.
The CHIPS Act subsidies are provided to companies investing in the U.S. semiconductor industry to encourage domestic semiconductor production. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also signed subsidy agreements with the previous Biden administration under this program.
On this day, the Department of Commerce announced that it would provide Micron with up to an additional $275 million in CHIPS Act subsidies in line with Micron's expanded investment. However, there is an assessment that the $275 million should not be considered an increase in subsidies, as this amount simply finalizes the terms that had been tentatively agreed upon with the previous Biden administration.
Micron's announcement of additional investment is drawing attention as it coincides with moves by the Trump administration to renegotiate CHIPS Act subsidies. President Trump has criticized the CHIPS Act, arguing that if tariffs are imposed on semiconductors, companies will invest in the U.S. on their own without the need for subsidies. Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce overseeing the CHIPS Act subsidies, stated during a congressional hearing on June 4 that some of the subsidies "appear excessively generous" and that the department is renegotiating subsidies with certain companies.
Micron's additional investment plan announced on this day includes the construction of a second advanced memory semiconductor plant in Boise, Idaho; the expansion and modernization of its existing plant in Manassas, Virginia; and the establishment of high bandwidth memory (HBM) packaging capabilities. Micron also stated that it plans to invest $50 billion in semiconductor research and development.
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