The CHIPS Act provides subsidies for domestic chipset manufacturing in an attempt to bolster the U.S. semiconductor industry. However President Donald Trump has said that he wants to abolish the U.S. CHIPS Act because it is a waste of government funds. The president instead wishes to tackle the semiconductor industry by imposing tariffs on imported goods.
According to Trump, tariffs will force companies to relocate their operations to the United States without having to hand out subsidies. Tariffs have already been applied to various sectors across imports from multiple regions and have been met with retaliatory tariffs in return.
If 80 percent of the staff working for the U.S. CHIPS Act office has in fact been laid off then the writing is on the wall. It is very likely that the CHIPS Act is about to be dismantled in the near future. Whether this actually has the desired result remains to be seen.
Apple is trying to be exempted from tariffs. | Video credit — PhoneArena
Korean giants Samsung and SK Hynix are concerned about recent happenings according to the report. Samsung in particular is concerned about the subsidies it was supposed to receive for the manufacturing plant it is making in Taylor, Texas.
Tariffs will also hurt Apple because the company still sees most of its manufacturing take place in China which is being subjected to even more brutal tariffs. During Trump’s first term Apple CEO Tim Cook was able to get the company exempted from tariffs. Cook is probably trying to do the same this time around but Trump’s closeness with Elon Musk may make it more challenging.
In addition to the dismantling of the CHIPS Act I’m also sad to see so much talent be laid off. This is hardly the first time mass layoffs have hit a governmental organization since Trump’s inauguration but it’s never an easy thing to witness.
