Top chip makers are pressuring Congress to quickly pass a measure providing more than $52 billion for companies that build semiconductor factories in the United States, privately warning lawmakers that failure to do so could prompt them to take their manufacturing plants elsewhere.
The bill, known as the CHIPS Act, would deliver semiconductor giants a remarkable injection of government support to build up America’s manufacturing and technological edge amid a global shortage of the critical technology. But despite broad bipartisan support for the measure on Capitol Hill, it has languished for nearly a year after lawmakers chose to package it with sprawling legislation aimed at bolstering U.S. competitiveness with China, which has stalled amid a variety of policy disputes.