Competitive Threat From China Strikes Micron Once Again

The Senate is poised to approve bipartisan legislation Tuesday afternoon that would invest billions to put the U.S. on more even ground with People's republic of china on a range of emerging technology issues, including addressing the semiconductor shortage and funding critical research.

The bill nevertheless faces pushback from a number of Senate Republicans who argue information technology is not strong enough to confront Red china, though the level of opposition is unlikely to derail the parcel, which will need to pass the House before it tin can exist sent to President Biden Joe BidenUngar-Sargon: Working class hit hardest past inflation Nevada county to consider counting all ballots by hand Biden to denote B in Ukraine armed services aid: report MORE 's desk. Voting in the Senate is slated to commencement about four p.m. Tuesday.

Here are five key components of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Human activity.

Bill marks turning point in addressing semiconductor shortage

The legislation is poised to inject funding and attention into the struggling U.Due south. semiconductor industry in the midst of a major shortage that has brought certain sectors, including automobile manufacturing, to a standstill.

The bill would invest near $52 billion into semiconductor production, marking a major step toward allowing the U.South. to compete in all facets of product on the global stage and help cease a shortage that has forced General Motors and Ford to temporarily shutter plants.

Senate Bulk Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerBiden signs .five trillion government funding bill with Ukraine aid Bottom line Overnight Energy & Environment — Manchin imperils Fed nomination over climate More (D-N.Y.), a pb sponsor of the legislation, has stressed the importance of funding chip manufacturing amid the shortage, maxim concluding calendar month that the bill would "make sure the U.s.a. stays on the cut border" of production.

The U.S. is a central player in the semiconductor manufacture, but federal funds for manufacturing take been lacking compared with other nations involved in chip production.

"The U.S. has more of the semiconductor market than anyone else, and nosotros lead in pattern, which is how we brand new chips. Where we don't lead is fabrication, and that has moved to Taiwan," Jim Lewis, a senior vice president and director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Colina on Monday.

"If we are serious about getting fabrication back in the United States ... we accept to utilize subsidies," he said.

The Semiconductor Industry Clan (SIA) — which represents companies such equally Intel, IBM, Micron and Qualcomm — has pushed for passage of the legislation.

SIA President and CEO John Neuffer said in a statement to The Hill that "nosotros only need to be doing more than chip enquiry, pattern, and manufacturing on U.Southward. shores."

"Other countries' governments accept fabricated huge investments to attract chip manufacturing and research," Neuffer said. "The semiconductor funding ... would help level the global playing field and ensure more of the fries our country needs are made in America, which would benefit U.S. workers, businesses, and consumers alike."

Invests billions to compete with China on critical inquiry and development

Included in the massive i,445 page text is Schumer and Sen. Todd Immature Todd Christopher YoungA adventure to improve research GOP senators press Biden to rescind pro-labor construction order Numbers don't lie: America'due south well-nigh resilient jobs are venture-backed More 's (R-Ind.) original pecker, the Countless Frontier Act, which would provide about $81 billion to the National Scientific discipline Foundation to serve as an adrenaline shot to help surpass Red china on research and development in technology and innovation.

"The one place that Communist china has had an advantage over the U.S. is the Chinese are willing to spend coin. We have been apartment in our spending for more a decade," said Lewis.

"Then if we are going to compete with them, we are going to take to match them," he added.

The Senate bill also includes a provision to address the threat of Beijing's theft of inquiry and technology by proverb intellectual property developed past the National Science Foundation is prohibited from being transferred to foreign entities of concern, such equally China.

In addition to massive funding, the bill would lay out articulate priorities for the National Science Foundation on areas where the U.S. is in the about critical competition with Mainland china.

Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Eye on Cyber and Technology Innovation with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, chosen the funding levels "appropriate" and noted the necessity of this legislation.

"The absenteeism of all of this would be detrimental to our ability to compete with the Chinese and create a level playing field for our companies to prosper," he said.

1 of the most pregnant components of the bill is the creation of a new division at the National Science Foundation, chosen the Directorate of Technology and Innovation, that would be focused on developing new technologies and providing investment in fostering domestic talent to conduct out this inquiry. It would receive $29 billion over five years.

"That is an exciting way in which we'll see a longer life wheel of enquiry that the federal authorities is investing in," said Debbie Altenburg, senior research policy skillful with the Clan of Public and State-grant Universities.

"It'south a large investment in scholarships and fellowships and at multiple levels — customs colleges, undergraduate and graduate studies — we're making sure to invest in domestic talent," she added.

Other focus areas in the bill include advancing knowledge of supercomputing and robotics, and developing its hardware; innovation in advanced communications; advancing bio- and medical technology, genomics and constructed biological science; and biometrics, data storage and management. This portion of the bill would receive an estimated $26.2 billion over four years.

Takes a stance confronting escalating foreign cyberattacks

Key provisions in the pecker reverberate the need to defend the U.S. against strange cyber threats following contempo ransomware attacks similar those against Colonial Pipeline and beef producer JBS USA.

The legislation incorporates the Cyber Response and Recovery Act, which would establish a fund to let the Section of Homeland Security to provide support to companies hit by cyberattacks.

It too includes $500 million over v years for the State Section to establish a program assisting other nations to increase secure internet admission and cybersecurity.

The Senate is taking upwards the measure amid growing concerns on Capitol Colina around cyber threats following debilitating ransomware attacks on cardinal groups, forth with major cyber breaches such as the SolarWinds incident that compromised nine federal agencies.

"Why everyone is surprised that we are existence whacked over the head routinely by China and Russian federation is a fiddling bit baffling. We are going to have to do something dissimilar on cyber if we are going to get this nether command," Lewis said of the cyber provisions.

5G gets a boost

A major concern during the course of the Trump administration was China's potential leadership in the field of fifth generation, or 5G, wireless technologies.

In social club to assist the U.S. compete with China, the bill includes $1.five billion for a Commerce Department fund that would spur the build out of neutral broadband technologies, which would put a damper on efforts by Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE to build out 5G networks.

The Trump administration took a series of steps to penalize both companies, and the Biden administration has largely kept them in place, with politicians on both sides of the aisle citing national security concerns around the companies ties to Mainland china'south government. Both companies accept strongly denied they pose any kind of national security threat to the U.S.

The legislation also includes a provision banning the Commerce secretary from removing Huawei from the "entity list," which finer blacklists the company, without certifying that it no longer poses a threat. Huawei was added to the list by the Trump administration, in addition to being designated a national security threat by the Federal Communications Committee.

Montgomery argued that while the bill'due south provisions are necessary, more than is needed to assistance the U.S. accost concerns around 5G rollout.

"It tin can't simply be money. This is a practiced get-go start, this funding is important, merely it's got to be combined with a serious effort to make certain that international standards setting groups ... let for a fair and open marketplace for U.S. technology," he said.

Bipartisan bundle even so faces strong GOP criticism

Republicans have made attacking the Biden administration'southward approach to China a central election issue alee of the 2022 midterms, aiming to frame the president's policy toward Beijing as failing to protect American interests.

GOP opposition to the bill is unlikely to derail passage, but it still provides an opportunity for congressional Republicans to hitting Democrats on against Beijing.

The Republican Written report Committee, the largest GOP caucus in Congress with 154 members, is i of the loudest voices arguing that the pecker falls short on addressing People's republic of china'due south theft of intellectual property.

Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.), head of the Republican Report Committee, attacked the legislation as a "boondoggle that's going to help the Chinese," in an interview with Breitbart over the weekend.

Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioLawmakers back Biden on potential economic penalties for Red china  Senate unanimously approves making daylight saving fourth dimension permanent   Us intel caput rejects Russian federation's claims about Ukraine biolabs More than (R-Fla.), during last calendar month'southward Senate vote to accelerate the pecker, called Beijing's theft of U.Southward. intellectual property a "horror show" in remarks on the Senate floor.

A spokesperson for Sen. Ron Johnson Ronald (Ron) Harold JohnsonDemocratic group runs ad hitting Ron Johnson over Trump 2017 tax bill Juan Williams: Biden must rebut GOP attacks on war Lawmakers fear Ukraine could spiral into US-Russian war More than (R-Wis.), a vocal opponent of the nib, criticized the legislation as wrongly distributing funds to the government over the individual sector.

"China is obviously a growing threat, but I don't believe whatsoever regime allocates capital letter as efficiently as the private sector," Alexa Henning told The Loma. "This bill volition increase government'due south influence over the individual sector while weakening America and making united states of america less competitive by increasing our debt. Democrats dearest spending other people's money and growing authorities. I accept no thought why any Republican would want to help them exercise that."

Alternately, Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders Sanders calls for end to MLB antitrust exemption Reality therapy for Democrats One-time Bernie Sanders press secretary: proposed defense budget includes excessive amount for individual contractors More than (I-Vt.) last month criticized the bill as providing assisting private chip manufacturing companies with far likewise much taxpayer dollars.

"As function of the Endless Frontiers bill nosotros should not be handing out $53 billion in corporate welfare to some of the largest and most profitable corporations in the state with no strings attached," he tweeted.

Lewis, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said despite GOP opposition to the neb, declining to pass the legislation would have serious repercussions.

"The Chinese would decide that we aren't a serious competitor if the bill doesn't go through," he said. "They take a belief that the U.S. tin't become its human activity together."

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Source: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/557257-five-key-parts-of-the-senates-sweeping-china-competitiveness-bill