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Experts don't worry for CHIPS Act in AZ after Trump comments
As we look ahead to the second Trump administration, comments he made on a podcast about the CHIPS and Science Act caused a huge reaction in the semiconductor industry.
Arizona has been a key focus of international investment thanks to the act, and local economic leaders say Trump's comments likely won't lead to any repeal.
They're unconcerned, really.
The train has left the station, you could say, as tens of billions of dollars are being invested right here in Arizona. That doesn't mean there can't be some changes in the next administration.
President Joe Biden made Arizona a focus of the CHIPS and Science Act. In 2022, he marked the CHIPS Act by speaking at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) as it was under construction in north Phoenix.
Earlier this year, he toured Intel's multi-billion-dollar investment in Chandler to expand chip manufacturing.
"This is going to transform the country in a way you don't even understand yet," Biden said.
Days before Donald Trump was elected to a second term in the White House, he said the act, which lured companies with billions of dollars to build chips in America was bad, suggesting tariffs would have been cheaper.
U.S. Senator for Arizona, Mark Kelly, said how important he believes the act is.
"It's a direct assault on Arizona's economy, and it will cost us tens of thousands of jobs here," he said. "We're talking about an investment of private companies of $100 billion in our state. It's the biggest investment any state has ever seen in any industry."
Millions have been spent at Maricopa Community Colleges readying more than a thousand workers for the industry. It's not just the massive chipmakers that benefit.
"We are a very critical element to making this technology work," Brian Sinclair of AGC Multi Material America said.
Sinclair says they manufacture the materials for circuits that chips are attached to. He doesn't see the CHIPS Act going away, but actually, he sees it expanding.
"Arizona has become the global semiconductor manufacturing hub of the entire world right now," said Danny Seiden of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce.
Back in 2022, the chairman of TSMC said they decided to build in Arizona before the CHIPS Act.
"We made this investment to invest in Arizona prior to the CHIPS Act, but this investment is pivotal to ensure the success in this project," said Dr. Mark Liu, TSMC's chairman, in December 2022.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce agreed the act is pivotal and isn't concerned by the president-elect's comments during his campaign.
"I think when he gets back in office, he'll see the importance of it. The national security, economic security, and honestly, just continuing to have that passion to build things in America," Seiden said. "We need chips in America, so no, I don't think it's going anywhere."
As of August, the CHIPS and Science Act had provided $30 billion in support for 23 projects in 15 states that would add 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs, according to the Commerce Department. That funding helped to draw in private capital and would enable the United States to produce 30% of the world’s most advanced computer chips, up from 0% when the Biden-Harris administration succeeded Trump’s presidency.