The US House of Representatives will take up a bill next week aimed at increasing competitiveness with China and supporting the domestic semiconductor industry, including $52 billion to subsidise chip manufacturing and research.
Steny Hoyer, majority leader, said on Friday that the House would vote on the 2,900-page bill, called the America Competes Act, saying it would “make further strides in innovation, technology, and advanced manufacturing.”
The bill also authorises $45 billion to support supply-chain resilience and manufacturing of critical goods, industrial equipment, and manufacturing technology.
Gina Raimondo, US commerce secretary, said the bill, if passed, would “create thousands” of jobs. “We need Congress to pass that bill in order to revitalise American manufacturing.”
Senate Bill Passed
The Senate passed the US Innovation and Competition Act last year, which includes $52 billion to increase US semiconductor production and authorises $190 billion to strengthen US technology and research to compete with China.
The House bill has some differences with the Senate version. If it passes, leaders of both chambers will negotiate to resolve differences.
The House bill also includes a number of trade provisions and would impose additional sanctions on China for what the US says are rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said Beijing was “firmly against the US making an issue of China and taking it as an imaginary enemy.” The bill “gravely interferes in China’s domestic affairs”, he claimed.
- Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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