Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is launching the Biden administration’s high-priority effort to out-compete China in a key sector: Semiconductor chips.
And amid tensions with China marked by the dramatic downing of a spy balloon and new warnings that Beijing is considering providing lethal aid to Russia, Raimondo’s sales pitch these days is simple: Making chips is core to US national security.
“It’s no secret that we are in a global – very heated global competition with China. And technology is at the crux of that competition,” Raimondo told CNN in an interview. “Right now, we are much too reliant upon Taiwan for leading edge chips. So, a big part of our strategy around being a global leader is investing in America: In our people, in our capacity to out innovate China and the rest of the world.”
As the Commerce Department on Tuesday launches its application for billions of dollars in semiconductor subsidies, Raimondo said she wants to be “crystal clear” that the program is “a national security initiative.” But reaching those national security goals, she said, will require developing a US workforce that can meet the moment.
“We simply will not be successful in achieving the national security goals of the CHIPS initiative unless we invest in our workforce, period. Full stop,” Raimondo said. “For decades, we’ve taken our eye off the ball with manufacturing, which means the worker supply of people with the skills to do super technical manufacturing has withered. And so, we need to be honest about that, but also embrace it as an opportunity to come up with creative solutions.”
To that end, the Commerce Department is asking every company vying for a share of the $39 billion in direct funding for semiconductor manufacturing to develop and outline plans for how they plan to build a skilled and diverse workforce, including by…
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