The Chips Act and National Security

After decades of neoliberalism, how much can America’s bureaucrats crank the dial on effective industrial policy? Will the CHIPS Act succeed at reshoring high-tech manufacturing?

Next week is the Chips Act’s second anniversary. To discuss, ChinaTalk interviewed Ben Schwartz, the former director for national security at the CHIPS Program Office, which manages a $39 billion grant program appropriated by the CHIPS and Science Act.

We get into: 

• The methods and obstacles for American semiconductor policy;
• How CHIPS Act guardrails aim to balance economic growth and national security; 
• The negotiation process for companies interested in receiving CHIPS Act funding;
• Reshoring vs friend-shoring and the challenge of Chinese dominance in legacy chip manufacturing;
• Staffing and organizational structure of the CHIPS Program Office, plus the role of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo;
• The challenge of collecting data on secretive semiconductor supply chains.

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