The Biden administration’s top economic advisor is praising progress made in strengthening semiconductor supply chains over the last few years and urging President-elect Donald Trump’s team to maintain efforts to strengthen those supply chains.
Lael Brainard, who leads President Biden’s National Economic Council, explained that when President Biden took office, almost 90 percent of semiconductors – which are vital for everything from advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to gaming applications – were manufactured abroad.
“These aren’t just economic vulnerabilities – they are national security risks, and we cannot afford to wait until there is a disruption to take action,” Brainard said during a Brookings event on Dec 19.
She explained that through the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act the U.S has “catalyzed nearly $1 trillion in private-sector investments in critical industries. Because of the CHIPS and Science Act, the U.S. is now projected to host nearly 30 percent of global leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing, up from zero.”
However, while progress has been made, more work is needed to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain, and America’s supply chains overall, she said.
“The work on strengthening America’s supply chains should continue since we are likely to encounter additional supply shocks in the years ahead,” Brainard said, adding that in the past four years alone, U.S. supply chains have experienced disruptions not only from the pandemic “but also from hurricanes, foreign wars, and cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure and digital supply chains.”
Brainard called on President-elect Trump to continue working on strengthening America’s supply chains, and particularly emphasized the importance of maintaining momentum on semiconductor supply chain efforts.
“Building resilience in our supply chains is not a partisan effort. It’s a national priority borne out of hard-fought experience,” she said.
