When a massive container ship called the Ever Given got stuck sideways in the Suez Canal for nearly a week this March, it caused a traffic backup in oceangoing commerce, costing the world about $60 billion, by one estimate.
After days of salvage experts trying to dig the ship out, the Ever Given was ultimately freed on March 29, thanks to a big assist from a higher-than-usual tide. The Ever Given’s saga was the latest reminder of how the world economy can be held hostage by a single point of failure in a global supply chain that is more precarious than most people knew.
The production of tiny semiconductors, one of the most critical products in the world, is likewise a chokepoint because nearly 90 percent of them are made by a handful of companies in Asia. A bipartisan chorus in Washington — including President Joe Biden — says American dependence on just these few sources for its economy and its military is dangerous. An ongoing shortage of chips — due partly to a pandemic-driven surge in computer usage — that has hobbled the U.S. automotive industry had strengthened their case. The Ever Given crisis fortified it further.
"As the global economy grows more interconnected, it is imperative that the U.S. reestablish leadership in the strategically important semiconductor industry,” California Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui said in a statement. “The future of innovation in 5G networks, healthcare, and computing will hinge on the availability of state-of-the-art semiconductors from trusted sources.”
But rebuilding the U.S. chip-making industry will not be easy or cheap. The United States is far behind in the race and may never catch up, some say, and yet Washington is poised to spend some $37 billion this year alone, without first developing a strategy and a plan for achieving it, the critics argue.
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March 31, 2021 at 05:01PM
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Special report: Questions swirl over subsidies for chip industry - Roll Call
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