The U.S. Department of Commerce has confirmed a $406 million subsidy for Taiwanese company GlobalWafers under the CHIPS and Science Act.
On the 17th (local time), the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it would provide $406 million in direct funding to the U.S. subsidiary of GlobalWafers and MEMC. The subsidies were confirmed after due diligence following the signing of a preliminary agreement (PMT) in July. This subsidy will be used for the construction of new wafer manufacturing facilities totaling $4 billion in Texas and Missouri.
The CHIPS Act is a law that provides subsidies, low-interest loans, and tax incentives to corporations that build semiconductor manufacturing and research and development (R&D) facilities in the U.S. The subsidies allocated by the U.S. Congress alone amount to $50 billion.
Former President Trump expressed negative views on the subsidies provided to overseas corporations, raising concerns that subsidies might be reduced or canceled after his inauguration. In response, the Biden administration has stated its policy to complete the distribution of CHIPS Act subsidies during its term.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo noted in a media interview on the 20th of last month, 'We want to finalize all subsidies before we leave,' encouraging staff to expedite their work. In fact, after announcing the distribution of subsidies to Taiwan's TSMC ($6.6 billion) on the 15th of last month, the department has been confirming subsidies primarily for Taiwanese and U.S. corporations, including Intel ($7.86 billion), Micron ($6.165 billion), and GlobalFoundries ($1.5 billion), over the past month.
Currently, domestic corporations Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are reported to be undergoing due diligence for subsidy distribution.