US Senate Passes $280 Billion Bill To Counter China
by Stefan Bos, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The U.S. Senate has passed a comprehensive $280 billion bill to build up America’s manufacturing and technological edge to counter China.
Wednesday’s legislation was a rare bipartisan effort to limit Communist-run China’s influence worldwide.
The legislation reflected a remarkable and rare consensus in an otherwise polarized Congress on a long-term strategy to address the nation’s intensifying geopolitical rivalry with Beijing.
It passed 64 to 33, with 17 Republicans voting in support of the bill, officially known as the “CHIPS and Science Act.”
Under the law, which was years in the making, the final iteration of a bill that was years in the making, some $52 billion would go to microchip manufacturers.
Lawmakers said they want to incentivize the construction of domestic semiconductor fabrication plants — or “fabs” — to make the chips.
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They are used in various products, including motor vehicles, cellphones, medical equipment, and military weapons.
A shortage of semiconductor chips during the coronavirus pandemic caused price hikes and supply-chain disruptions in several industries.
“This is one of the most significant, long-term thinking bills we’ve passed in a very long time,” said Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Wednesday.
“I told our caucus yesterday that our grandchildren will hold good-paying jobs in industries we can’t even imagine because of what we are doing now,” he added.
“This is going to go down as one of the major bipartisan achievements of this Congress,” the Democrat said.