Biden, CEOs meet on chip shortage, Intel pledges production

WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden met executives from major companies to discuss the global chip shortage that has severely hurt US carmakers and spurred Intel Corp to announce plans to make chips for car plants at its factories in six to nine months.

Mr Biden said at the meeting on Monday he had bipartisan support for legislation to fund the semiconductor industry. He had announced plans to invest US$50 billion (S$67 billion) in semiconductor manufacturing and research as part of a broader focus on rebuilding US manufacturing.

"I've been saying for some time now, China and the rest of the world are not waiting. There's no reason why Americans should wait," he said. "We're investing aggressively in areas like semiconductors and batteries, that's what they're doing and others, so must we."

The gathering led by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, National Economic Council director Brian Deese and the Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo comes as a shortage of semiconductors wreaks havoc on supply chains in several sectors. The crunch has badly dented US car manufacturing, with General Motors, Ford and other carmakers temporarily shuttering some factories or cutting production.

Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger, who attended the meeting virtually, told Reuters the firm wants to start producing chips at its factories within six to nine months to address a shortage that has idled assembly lines at some US automotive plants.

Intel last month announced plans to vastly scale up chip manufacturing for outsiders as it builds new factories in the United States and Europe. Its talks with automotive suppliers disclosed on Monday represent an acceleration of the plans. The supply crunch could lead to a potential 1.3 million shortfall in US car and light-duty truck production this year.

The White House meeting included executives from 19 major companies such as General Motors chief executive Mary Barra, Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley and Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV CEO Carlos Tavares. Executives from firms like GlobalFoundries, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, AT&T, Samsung Electronics and Google-parent Alphabet were also in attendance.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters no immediate decision or announcement on alleviating the chip shortage was likely to come from the meeting.

Later this week, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold its first hearing on a bipartisan measure to bolster technology research and development efforts in an attempt to address Chinese competition.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE