Department of Commerce Releases CHIPS for America Strategy

“CHIPS for America,” a $50 billion suite of programs created by the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen and revitalize the U.S. position in semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing, is moving into the implementation phase with the Commerce Department’s creation of two new offices housed at NIST, the CHIPS Program Office (CPO), and the CHIPS R&D office.
 
The CPO will be a new operating unit established to implement the Section 9902 semiconductor incentives program and provide policy and stakeholder engagement support across CHIPS programs. The CPO, working closely with the Office of the Secretary and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, will work to ensure coordination of all CHIPS-related activities across the Department. The CPO will actively participate in White House-led coordination efforts, including the CHIPS Implementation Steering Council, to ensure a tightly connected implementation of CHIPS throughout the government, including the Departments of Defense, State, Energy, and Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
 
The CHIPS R&D office will incubate the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and manage the Industrial Advisory Committee, Advanced Packaging, Manufacturing USA, and R&D activities, in collaboration with existing NIST laboratories and the NIST Office of Advanced Manufacturing. NIST was selected as the bureau to house these new units because of its deep technical expertise, industry focus, experience with public-private partnerships, and strong administrative functions. 
 
The four primary goals of the CHIPS for America strategy are:
 

• Establish and expand domestic production of leading edge semiconductors in the U.S., of which the U.S. currently makes 0% of the world’s supply
• Build a sufficient and stable supply of mature node semiconductors
• Invest in R&D to ensure the next generation semiconductor technology is developed and produced in the U.S.
• Create tens of thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs and more than one hundred thousand construction jobs. This effort will ensure the pipeline for these jobs expands to include people who have historically not had a chance to participate in this industry, including women, people of color, veterans, and people who live in rural areas.

 
An executive summary of the strategy is available here.
 
The full strategy paper is available here.