Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, joined by a bipartisan group of his counterparts in other states, urged action from congressional leaders on legislation to encourage the production of microchips in the U.S.
Because of the technological reliance on the product, Yost argued that microchips should become a national priority in order to reduce foreign reliance.
“Virtually all modern-day products and amenities depend on microchips,” Yost said. “So it’s absolutely vital that domestic chip production become a national priority.”
The group of attorneys general specifically pointed to the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act, which would “provide $50 billion in incentives for U.S. companies to manufacture” the needed items.
According to the group, the lack of production has delayed the manufacturing of several products:
“Unfortunately, our nation does not produce enough microchips to meet our needs. Roughly seventy-five percent of the chips manufactured worldwide come from foreign markets, and the evidence of overreliance on foreign microchip production is all around us. Across the country, empty lots and fields have been transformed into vast parking lots for incomplete vehicles waiting on the arrival of microchips. At the height of the shortage last year, Ford Motor Company parked thousands of incomplete trucks at the Kentucky Speedway, and this was only a fraction of the total vehicles the company parked while waiting on their chips,” they wrote.
“Our states and many others stand to benefit directly from increased investment in domestic microchip production, and every state and territory benefits when our national security is not dependent on the whims of a foreign nation.”
Because of the lack of action from Congress, Intel delayed the groundbreaking of its $20 billion chip plant in Ohio.
In addition to Yost, the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia joined forces in this initiative to establish homeland microchip production.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
