On August 9, President Biden signed the CHIPS Act. Along with the proposed "CHIP-4 alliance" (US, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan), it is a prelude in a lethal effort to weaponize the supply chains in the global ICT sector.
IN international media, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 is often portrayed as a $52-billion package aiming to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. But the underlying strategic objective is geopolitical.
Today Asia dominates global semiconductor manufacturing. Though a top exporter, the US semiconductor industry no longer controls the supply chains in the global information communication technology (ICT) sector. However, it still accounts for over 80 percent of the world's chip design equipment, 50 percent of intellectual property for chip designs, and half of the globe's chip manufacturing equipment.
To dominate the semiconductors, which also enable advanced military technology, the Biden team seeks to restore the past US superiority in global semiconductors.
The problem is that no single nation can any longer control entire supply chains in the global ICT sector (see Figure 1). Hence, the effort to weaponize the system, to "counter" China.
Top