WASHINGTON (TNS) — Prominent Pennsylvanians attended President Joe Biden’s signing of the CHIPS and Science Act, a new law that directs billions to spur domestic semiconductor manufacturing and could potentially unlock billions more for scientific research.
Gov. Tom Wolf and Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian were among a large audience Tuesday on the White House South Lawn as Mr. Biden signed the bipartisan bill into law, which will provide $52 billion for the industry and a 25% tax incentive for companies that invest in domestic chip manufacturing.
The act also authorizes about $200 billion to be appropriated over the next decade for various research programs, a portion of the legislation that garnered the backing of universities and tech councils.
”It is a privilege to represent Carnegie Mellon University at the White House as President Biden signs the CHIPs and Science Act. This historic piece of legislation — the result of extraordinary bipartisan cooperation in the House and Senate over several years representing all corners of the nation — will shape the next frontier of science and technology and catalyze long-term economic growth,” Mr. Jahanian said in a statement.
”Now the real work begins: mobilizing academia, industry, government, workers, and local communities all across the U.S. to collaborate in unprecedented, innovative ways to turn this once-in-a-generation opportunity into real impact to benefit all Americans,” he continued.
Mr. Wolf attended the signing ceremony with Jeff White, an executive of the German company EMD Electronics that has a facility in Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill County.
”Almost every chip in the world uses at least one of our products or services. I was honored to be a part of today’s ceremony, thanks to an invitation from PennsylvaniaGovernor Wolf’s office. This is an historic moment that signifies the country’s growing [and] renewed importance to semiconductor manufacturing,” Mr. White wrote on LinkedIn after the event.
He was among other corporate executives in attendance. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger sat in the front row. The large semiconductor company threatened delays on its $20 billion manufacturing plant near Columbus, Ohio, until Congress passed the legislation.
Mr. Wolf said after the ceremony that the Intel plant was “a win for Ohio” but that he wants to “make sure that everybody who is thinking about growing thinks about Pennsylvania.”
” Pennsylvania is a great place to do business and we just need to make that point,” he said, highlighting the lowering of the corporate income tax rate in the state’s recent budget.
The president was joined on the South Lawn by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and he was introduced by Joshua Aviv, President and CEO of SparkCharge, a portable electric vehicle charging company that began as a startup out of Syracuse University and has a manufacturing facility in Buffalo, N.Y.
The bill was shepherded through Congress with support from both sides of the aisle.
In the crowd around Mr. Biden as he signed the bill were Republican Sens. Todd Young, of Ind., and Rob Portman, of Ohio, as well as Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, one of Pennsylvania’s GOP U.S. House lawmakers.
Sen. Bob Casey, D- Pa., celebrated on social media, writing that “ The United States is now better positioned to compete and lead the world in 21st century innovation and manufacturing.”
During the legislation’s roughly yearlong path, which included a few different iterations, lawmakers have touted the national security advantages to bolstering domestic production of electronic chip components that are needed for cars, appliances, hospital equipment, cell phones, defense systems and a number of other modern technological devices.
Roughly three-quarters of all chip manufacturing occurs in Northeast Asia, according to recent industry figures, and the majority of the world’s most advanced chips are produced in Taiwan, a vulnerability for the U.S. because of tension with China.
”The rest of the world seems to be falling all over themselves to try to get chips manufactured within their boundaries,” Mr. Wolf said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette outside the White House Tuesday. “I think we saw during the pandemic that we can count on an international supply chain to a point, but for certain strategic things we need to make our economy for ourselves healthy and safe.”
Not all U.S. lawmakers representing Pennsylvania supported the legislation. Sen. Pat Toomey, R- Pa., has criticized the effort from its inception. Western Pennsylvania’sU.S. House delegation split along party lines, with Republicans voting against the final measure last month.
