close video Arm Holdings CEO: The Chips Act has been good for the world
Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas breaks down the impact of the rate cutting cycle and weighs in on the Chips Act on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on Congress to repeal the CHIPS Act and its subsidies for chipmakers who build manufacturing facilities in the U.S., citing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s new investment as showing it is unnecessary — though the firm previously received a CHIPS Act grant.
"Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars, and it doesn't mean a thing. They take our money, and they don't spend it," Trump said in his address to a joint session of Congress. "You should get rid of the CHIPS Act, and whatever's left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt. Or any other reason you want to."
Trump previously criticized the CHIPS Act in the lead-up to the election, saying on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast in October that the "chip deal is so bad." The president criticized sending billions of dollars to "rich companies" and suggested imposing tariffs on foreign-made chips would be a better way to move production to the U.S.
CHIP GIANT TSMC TO INVEST $100B IN US MANUFACTURING
President Donald Trump called for Congress to repeal the CHIPS Act during his address to Congress on Tuesday. (Win McNamee/Pool/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told the press in November that Republicans "probably will" try to repeal the CHIPS Act, but quickly walked back his comments and said in a later statement that the legislation was "not on the agenda for repeal."
The law passed Congress and was signed into law by then-President Joe Biden in 2022 on bipartisan votes of 64-33 in the Senate and 243-187 in the House, though majorities of Republicans in both chambers opposed the bill.
FUTURE OF CHIPS ACT UNDER TRUMP ADMIN IN QUESTION
President Joe Biden stands behind a table, next to Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger, as they look at wafers of chips while touring the Intel Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Arizona, on March 20, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The CHIPS Act provided a total of $53 billion in federal incentives aimed at spurring more domestic semiconductor manufacturing as well as research and development for advanced chips.
Of that total, $39 billion was set aside for a program administered by the Commerce Department that provides financial assistance to companies building new or expanding existing semiconductor facilities.
According to the CHIPS Program Office within the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology, over $36 billion in CHIPS Act funding had been awarded as of Jan. 23.
TRUMP SAYS HE WILL INTRODUCE 25% TARIFFS ON AUTOS, PHARMACEUTICALS AND CHIPS
An American flag is displayed at the Intel Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona, on March 20, 2024. (Cassidy Araiza/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Aside from CHIPS Act-related investments, the Semiconductor Industry Association noted that as of August 2024, there had been nearly $450 billion in private investments announced that aimed to increase domestic manufacturing capacity.
TSMC, which produces a large share of the world's most advanced chips, received an award of up to $6.6 billion in grants from the CHIPS Act for its semiconductor fabrication facilities in Arizona.
It also previously announced investments totaling $65 billion to expand its Arizona facilities before its announcement this week of a $100 billion investment to build new fabs, as well as a packaging facility and research center in the Phoenix area.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Trump announced last month that he plans to impose tariffs on semiconductor imports that would be "25% or higher" and rise over the course of the year, though he didn't indicate when he would announce those tariffs and provided no further details.
FOX Business' Breck Dumas contributed to this report.