Following his unveiling of the bipartisan American Foundries Act and his push to include major federal support for the U.S. microelectronics industry, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer stood with GlobalFoundries CEO Tom Caulfield in Malta, to call for swift passage of an act that would help tech companies.
The Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes the provisions from the Senator’s bill to continue U.S. leadership and revitalize innovation in the global microelectronics sector.
Schumer said the bipartisan legislation, among other things, will launch federal initiative into semiconductor manufacturing, including companies like GlobalFoundries, by providing new federal incentives to conduct advanced research and development of semiconductor technology, secure the supply chain, and ensure national and economic security by reducing reliance on foreign semiconductor manufacturing.
The amendment passed in the Senate 96-4 as part of the Senate-passed NDAA which now awaits final consideration and passage.
Schumer called it a major step forward in providing unprecedented support for the U.S. semiconductor industry and creating opportunities to bring hundreds of jobs to Saratoga County and Upstate New York.
“The economic and national security risks posed by relying too heavily on foreign semiconductor suppliers cannot be ignored, and Upstate New York, especially the Capital Region, which has a robust semiconductor sector, is the perfect place to grow this industry by leaps and bounds,” said Schumer. “America must continue to invest in our domestic semiconductor industry in order to keep good-paying, high-tech American manufacturing jobs here in Upstate New York. We need to ensure our domestic microelectronics industry can safely and securely supply our military, intelligence agencies, and other government needs. This is essential to our national security and to U.S. leadership in this critical industry.”
“We were pleased to welcome Sen. Schumer to GlobalFoundries Fab 8 facility, the most advanced semiconductor foundry in the U.S.,” said Tom Caulfield, CEO of GlobalFoundries. “For many years, Senator Schumer has supported semiconductor manufacturing and GlobalFoundries and this legislation will boost chip production and U.S. semiconductor manufacturing leadership. Now is the time to double down on semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. where it began more than half a century ago,”
Schumer said even though the U.S. revolutionized the microelectronics industry and invented nearly all of the key technology used to this day, competitors in Asia, especially China, have made huge investments into their microelectronics industries in recent years to challenge and undercut U.S. leadership.
According to Schumer, the U.S. has gone from producing 24 percent of the world’s semiconductors in 2000, to just 12 percent more recently. In contrast, China has gone from producing zero chips to 16 percent of the world’s supply in the same time frame.
Schumer has long-championed increased efforts to expand the domestic microelectronics industry, showing strong support for companies like GlobalFoundries. With New York home to multiple major companies and research institutions in the semiconductor industry, the state is positioned to securely supply the U.S. government with critical technologies and maintain U.S. leadership in this technology, offering a tremendous opportunity for New York’s semiconductor companies to expand operations, create more jobs in Upstate New York, and help the U.S. reduce its reliance on foreign semiconductor manufacturing, the senator said.
