U.S. Department of Commerce

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo issued the following statement on Switzerland’s adequacy decision on the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF):

“The United States welcomes the Swiss Federal Council’s finding that the Swiss-U.S. DPF provides an adequate level of protection to transfer personal data from Switzerland to the United States. Effective September 15, 2024, this change enables organizations to transfer personal data from Switzerland to Swiss-U.S. DPF-certified organizations in the United States.

The Swiss-U.S. DPF offers U.S. businesses conducting business with Switzerland an affordable and efficient solution for transferring personal data in compliance with Swiss law. This mechanism will help thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses who rely on data transfers to serve global customers and perform essential business functions.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce will continue to provide guidance to organizations looking to participate in or learn more about the Swiss-U.S. DPF: dataprivacyframework.gov/NewsEvents

This week, the U.S. Department of Commerce held the first in-person meetings of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Agreement’s Supply Chain Council on Thursday, September 12, followed by the Crisis Response Network on Friday, September 13.

The IPEF Supply Chain Council meeting, chaired by the United States, included representatives from all IPEF member countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam. Building on the momentum from the Council’s virtual meeting in July, the Council adopted a first-year workplan and established two Subcommittees: one on Logistics and Movement of Goods, and the other on Data and Analytics. The Council also established three Action Plan teams on semiconductors, chemicals, and critical minerals with a focus on batteries. Additionally, the Council plans to establish an Action Plan team on healthcare in the coming weeks. These topics were determined based on critical sectors and key goods that were formally identified by IPEF Parties for cooperation under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement. 

“The IPEF Supply Chain Council plays a pivotal role in strengthening the resilience and security of supply chains across the Indo-Pacific region,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “By working together, we are not only addressing vulnerabilities but also creating new opportunities for sustainable economic growth and prosperity.”

After the in-person meeting of the IPEF Supply Chain Council, the Crisis Response Network (CRN) convened to discuss ways to enhance collaboration across IPEF. Chaired by the Republic of Korea, the CRN is focused on addressing immediate supply chain disruptions. During the meeting, the members of the CRN conducted an emergency simulation exercise involving a supply chain disruption impacting the import and use of certain chemicals by IPEF countries.

“The United States was honored to host these historic meetings,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis Grant T. Harris. “The meetings of the IPEF Supply Chain Council and Crisis Response Network allowed us to map out the strategic and tactical next steps for both bodies to advance the resilience and security of our regional supply chains.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce is committed to actively engaging in the Action Plan teams and Subcommittees as we work together to develop actionable policies and recommendations aimed at enhancing supply chain resilience across the IPEF region. Further, we look forward to the next Supply Chain Council meeting, which is scheduled to take place in December 2024. 

About IPEF

In May 2022, President Biden launched IPEF, bringing together 14 regional partners – Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam – in a new model of economic cooperation. IPEF negotiations began in late 2022. In May 2023, the IPEF partners announced the substantial conclusion of the negotiations for a first-of-its-kind IPEF Supply Chain Agreement. In November 2023, the IPEF partners announced the substantial conclusion of the negotiations on the proposed IPEF Clean Economy and Fair Economy Agreements, as well as on a proposed overarching Agreement on IPEF to help ensure the durability of the framework and held a signing ceremony for the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement, which entered into force on February 24, 2024.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo released the following statement after the Biden-Harris Administration announced actions to address the significant increased use of the de minimis exemption, in particular from Chinese e-commerce platforms, and to protect American consumers, workers, retailers, importers, and manufacturers. 

“American workers and businesses can outcompete anyone on a level playing field, but for too long, Chinese e-commerce platforms have skirted tariffs by abusing the de minimis exemption,” said Secretary Raimondo. “With these new actions, the Biden-Harris Administration is standing up for American consumers and cracking down on Chinese companies’ efforts to undercut American workers and businesses. I’m proud of the Commerce Department’s work with interagency partners to develop these new proposed rules that would promote consumer safety, prevent unfair trade practices, and protect American workers and industries.”

A shipment is generally eligible for the de minimis exemption if the aggregate fair retail value of the articles imported is $800 or less. De minimis shipments enter the United States with less information than other imports and are not subject to tariffs. Over the last ten years, the number of shipments entering the United States under the de minimis exemption has increased significantly from approximately 140 million a year to over one billion a year, with nearly four million entering the United States every day in 2023. This exponential increase in de minimis shipments makes it more challenging to enforce U.S. trade laws, health and safety requirements, intellectual property rights, and consumer protection rules, and to block illicit synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and synthetic drug raw materials and machinery from entering the country.

For more information on the Commerce Department and the rest of the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions, see HERE.

Thank you, Assistant Secretary Harris. Thanks to chairs Ursula and Jeff, and to our speakers.

Yesterday we held our inaugural Supply Chain Summit, and it was a great moment to reflect on how far we’ve come.

Following the COVID supply chain challenges, we embraced a whole of government approach to address supply chain gaps. It’s truly remarkable to see what has happened in the last four year – not just with the supply chain center – but across the range of government and private sector tools.

I’d like to take some time today to celebrate successes – and hear from you what you’ve learned in the last four years. But then we need to get back to work and talk about what the next phase of our work should entail.

First, the successes:

The Biden-Harris Administration had a strategy to address these challenges and ignite growth. 

Our belief is that the federal government must set the strategic direction and create the conditions for growth. We need to lay the foundation for the private sector to do what the private sector does best – innovate, push the growth frontier, and drive U.S. competitiveness.

Congress gave us a brand-new set of tools to achieve those goals. CHIPS and IRA focused on changing incentives for the private sector. Through tax credits, investments, loans, and procurement policies, we are changing the economic calculus so the private sector can take risks in the areas where we have set strategic priorities.

We’re seeing early signs of success.

Investment: Construction of factories has more than doubled since 2021. Private sector investment in manufacturing is at the highest level since World War II business investment in equipment, and software has been beating forecasters’ expectations.

CHIPS: In the two years since the CHIPS and Science Act became law, America has become a magnet for private sector investments in semiconductor manufacturing and innovation. The United States is now expected to grow its share of global leading-edge logic manufacturing to 28% by 2032 – up from 0% when the law was passed.

IRA: Is triggering a clean energy boom along the supply chain of EVs, for example.

This is all great. But there is obviously more work to do.

I worry about PRC oversupply undermining our investments. From legacy chips to lithium, we see serious risks. And I’m not sure we currently have the best tools to address these concerns.

I’m concerned that OEMs are not actually pricing in resilience but counting on long-term government subsidies to provide them U.S.-produced inputs at a China-price.

You all have put two critical issues front and center: Data Center supply chains and Buy America provisions for semiconductor supply chains. These are both clear areas where we have more work to do.

So, I'd like to start by asking you some questions:

When you reflect on the last four years, what do you think we’ve done really well? Where do you see success?

What still keeps you up a night?  What do you think we need to focus on next?

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo met with members of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness (ACSCC). During the meeting, the Secretary provided a readout of the recent Supply Chain Summit, which was co-hosted this week by the Department of Commerce and the Council on Foreign Relations. She emphasized the importance of strengthening supply chain resilience and bolstering national security, including through the important work of the Department of Commerce’s Supply Chain Center. Secretary Raimondo sought input from ACSCC members on the Buy America provisions related to semiconductor supply chains and underscored the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to revitalizing domestic chip manufacturing and supporting U.S. jobs. The Secretary also highlighted the critical role of AI Data Center supply chains in supporting national and economic security and expressed gratitude to ACSCC members for their collaboration with the Department on its supply chain resiliency efforts.

Secretary Raimondo was joined by Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis, Grant T. Harris, who highlighted the launch of a first-of-its-kind diagnostic tool—known as SCALE—which utilizes a comprehensive set of indicators to assess structural supply chain risk across the U.S. economy. Assistant Secretary Harris noted that the Supply Chain Center will continue to engage with key stakeholders, including ACSCC members, to enhance collaboration on supply chain security and resilience initiatives and thanked members for their interest in continuing to work with the Industry and Analysis team on these important issues.

Department unveils first-of-its kind diagnostic supply chain risk assessment tool as Secretary Raimondo and Deputy Secretary Graves highlight how the Commerce Department is working to make America’s supply chains more resilient.

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in collaboration with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), hosted the inaugural Supply Chain Summit. Bringing together leaders from government, industry, academia, and civil society, the Summit highlighted the work of the Biden-Harris Administration and industry to shift from reacting to global supply chain disruptions to proactively strengthening supply chain resilience.

“The Biden-Harris Administration knows securing American supply chains is vital to protecting our national security and enhancing our economic competitiveness,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “By working with industry and taking an analytical, proactive approach, we are working to prevent the kind of supply chain failures that drove up costs for Americans during the pandemic and to create new economic opportunities for communities across the nation.”  

“The actions we’re taking at the Commerce Department to secure our supply chains are possible because of the work we’ve done since day one to leverage our innovative expertise and capabilities to put risk assessment and resiliency at the forefront of our commercial engagement,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves. “We remember the dark days of COVID and what it felt like when medical devices, PPE, critical technologies, and everyday household appliances were out of reach. That’s why mitigating the impact was step one and turning reactive policies into proactive policies became our second chapter, which is precisely what was on display at the Supply Chain Summit.”

At the Summit, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration's ongoing commitment to strengthening supply chains, the Department of Commerce’s Supply Chain Center unveiled a first-of-its kind diagnostic supply chain risk assessment tool—known as SCALE—which utilizes a comprehensive set of indicators to assess structural supply chain risk across the U.S. economy. The SCALE tool, coupled with the Industry and Analysis business unit’s deep industry expertise, will enable the U.S. Government to be more proactive and strategic in addressing supply chain risk. The tool compares risks across industries and provides an in-depth assessment of what is driving those risks. SCALE will help inform U.S. government decision-making, and can facilitate data-driven conversations with industry on risks, opportunities, and actions that can advance supply chain resilience.

“To be proactive, we need the right insights and ideas, and we need to make data more actionable,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis Grant Harris. “SCALE is a first-of-its-kind analytics tool because it revolutionizes our ability to understand systemic supply chain vulnerabilities that pose risks to U.S. economic and national security.” 

The Summit featured notable speakers including, Secretary Raimondo, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk, Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry & Analysis Grant Harris, and Ambassador Michael Froman. These and other leaders addressed the critical role supply chain resilience plays in U.S. economic and national security, and the role of public-private cooperation in driving these efforts forward.

To further bolster global supply chain resilience, the U.S. Department of Commerce also announced seven new strategic partnerships with key stakeholders across industry and academia. These partnerships will help the Department promote the global competitiveness of U.S. industry, help businesses become more resilient, and make its supply chain work all the more innovative and impactful. The International Trade Administration also announced a competitive process to develop new data or analysis that can be used to expand the indicators of risk incorporated into the SCALE tool.

The Department of Commerce is committed to advancing the outcomes of the 2024 Supply Chain Summit.  The Supply Chain Center and our Industry & Analysis team will continue to work closely with industry leaders, small businesses, and international partners to build more resilient, sustainable, and diverse supply chains.

For more information about the key outcomes of the 2024 Supply Chain Summit, please review the policy actions outlined in the Supply Chain Resilience Fact Sheet.

At the Supply Chain Summit, the Department of Commerce announced that the following actions will be undertaken by the Industry & Analysis (I&A) business unit within the International Trade Administration:

New efforts to build the U.S. Government’s analytical capacity to understand and address supply chain risk:  

Launched SCALE Tool: Department of Commerce’s Supply Chain Center unveiled a first-of-its kind diagnostic supply chain risk assessment tool—known as SCALE—which utilizes a comprehensive set of indicators to assess structural supply chain risk across the U.S. economy.  The SCALE tool, coupled with the I&A’s deep industry expertise, will enable the U.S. Government to be more proactive and strategic in addressing supply chain risk. The tool compares risks across industries and provides an in-depth assessment of what is driving those risks. SCALE will inform U.S. government decision-making and can facilitate data-driven conversations with industry on risks, opportunities, and actions that can advance supply chain resilience.

SCALE Tool Findings: During the Summit, Assistant Secretary Grant Harris shared how the Supply Chain Center developed SCALE and highlighted its intended use cases. Looking ahead, the Center will release key findings from the SCALE tool, coupled with relevant insights from I&A’s industry experts, and engage industry and other key stakeholders on the results.

SCALE Tool Data Competition:  I&A plans to launch a competition aimed at developing new data or analysis that can be used to expand the indicators of risk incorporated into the SCALE tool. 

Expanded engagement with industry and other key stakeholders:

Convening on AI Data Centers: This fall, Secretary Raimondo will convene industry to discuss risks associated with the supply chains for AI data centers, focused on the products and industries identified by I&A stakeholder engagement, in-house expertise, and the SCALE tool. The convening will bring both upstream and downstream suppliers and customers together to assess current and future bottlenecks and risky dependencies, all while helping to inform recommendations on steps both industry and government can take to mitigate identified risks.

Industry Supply Chain Tabletop Exercises: In 2025, I&A will conduct two tabletop exercises with industry to better understand opportunities to address structural supply chain risks faced by the United States. One exercise will focus on supply chain risks in the chemicals industry; the second will focus on an emerging technology where it is critical the United States maintain a strategic advantage.  

New Strategic Partnerships: At the Summit, seven new strategic partnerships with key stakeholders across industry and academia were announced. These partnerships will help the Department promote the global competitiveness of U.S. industry, help businesses become more resilient, and make its supply chain work more innovative and impactful. The new partners are:

• National Small Business Association
• Association for Supply Chain Management
• Council for Supply Chain Management Professionals
• Institute for Supply Management
• Industry Studies Association
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Georgetown University

2025 Supply Chain Summit: I&A will host another Supply Chain Summit in 2025. The Summit will bring together government, industry, and other stakeholders to examine continual progress made in increasing American supply chain resiliency. The date of the Summit will be announced in the months ahead.

Thank you to the Association of Economists of Puerto Rico for hosting today. I look forward to discussing research opportunities to advance economic measurement and building statistical capacity by leveraging the newly established Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) here in Puerto Rico.

People often think of the Department of Commerce as the Department of Business, but we’re much more than that. We’re the Department of data, science, technology, people, and communities.

Day-to-day funding and public policy decisions rely on data collected from the Census Bureau. For Puerto Rico, policymakers and key stakeholders often operate with a lack of comprehensive data about the Puerto Rican people and your economy.

There’s been a lot of deep interest in obtaining equitable access to measures and statistics for Puerto Rico and the FSRDC is an affirming step in the right direction.

Demographic and socioeconomic data is critical for data in evidence-driven decisions, but the Census Bureau faces many challenges in the archipelago, particularly the lack of data infrastructure -- including updated standards, methodology, technical capacity and data practices. In most cases, the U.S. Census Bureau needs data inputs from states and local governments (i.e., they furnish the data to be included in national statistics), however, in many cases the Government of Puerto Rico is not able to provide the data – for many reasons, generally for lack of data quality or availability.

Both federal and local stakeholders have expressed deep interest in obtaining equitable access to measures and statistics for Puerto Rico, something more comparable to what the Census Bureau is able produce for the stateside.

When President Biden established the Puerto Rico Economic Dialogue in 2021, we developed four pillars with concrete actions and deliverables that the Census Bureau has a played a huge role in. Of these four pillars – strengthening human capital and workforce development, investing in infrastructure, building a diversified economy, and improving governance and data – the FSRDC is critical to accomplishing that fourth pillar.

Access to FSRDC data will enhance the statistical capacity on the island and enable local officials, industry leaders and third sector to make more informed, timely data-driven decisions. It will also allow local academics to address previously unanswerable research questions.

The Puerto Rico FSRDC will play a crucial role in enhancing the statistical capacity on the island, enabling local officials to make more informed, data-driven decisions, and allowing academics to explore critical research topics regarding the economy of Puerto Rico. As part of a network of 33 other centers across the United States, the PR FSRDC will contribute to deepening our understanding of the population and economy of the United States and its territories.

I look forward to a fruitful discussion.

Thank you for that introduction. Hello everyone! I’m so pleased to be back in Puerto Rico to join you all to mark this exciting occasion. I’d like to thank the Platform for Social Impact for hosting us today, and for their important work in bringing prosperity back to Puerto Rico.

As many of you know, since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of Commerce has spearheaded a historic whole-of-government effort across 17 federal government agencies that have resulted in over $140 billion in federal obligations for Puerto Rico. As President Biden’s Puerto Rico Economic Growth Coordinator, I understand just how fundamental those funding dollars are to the communities that call this place home.

And that funding isn’t limited to recovery and resiliency efforts following disasters like Hurricane Maria. We also carved out funding for the archipelago in landmark legislation signed into law by President Biden. And that’s what brings us here today.

We’re excited to announce that the Oasis Expansion Recompete Plan, led by the Platform for Social Impact, will receive approximately $30 million to invest in comprehensive economic development initiatives in the Villa Prades community here in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Oasis Expansion Recompete Plan focuses its impact in the Villa Prades neighborhood, where residents face wage shortages and a lack of opportunity and support that they need to provide for themselves and their loved ones. Today’s announcement of the Recompete project, as well as the groundbreaking of the new Oasis Hub project, aim to directly confront this.

Many residents in this community are seeking to join the workforce or become entrepreneurs, and with this funding, the Platform for Social Impact will enable wraparound services such as workforce training, entrepreneurship programs, child and elder care, housing, healthcare and social safety net initiatives, and other projects that target economic mobility – both for working age adults and their families. With such a skyrocketing workforce shortage, this investment will also accelerate reconstruction efforts on this Island.

This is what the Recompete Program is all about. Funded through the CHIPS & Science Act, this program centers the Administration’s core belief that we’re stronger when more places have thriving, opportunity-rich economies, and that with the right resources and opportunities, all communities can achieve this.

This funding was awarded through our Economic Development Administration’s Distressed Areas Recompete Pilot Program, a $200 million competition focused on economic distress across the country.

To put today’s announcement in perspective, the Recompete Program was an incredibly competitive application process nationwide and this award, along with five others, represent the top 1% of applicants being selected. The rigor of our selection process should give confidence to current and future partners about the vision PSI is forging.

And that funding isn’t the only public investment kickstarting transformative change. Today, we’re also celebrating the co-investment of over $130 million in funding from the Government of Puerto Rico and the City of San Juan to support the Recompete initiative. I’d like to thank Governor Pierluisi, Mayor Romero, and members of the Governor’s Cabinet for this significant joint commitment.

One thing this absolutely clear: this initiative is exactly the type of place-based economic development President Biden and Vice President Harris have been championing – where resources have been concentrated, teams have been allocated, and community stakeholders have been included. And the results of this will be resounding: thousands of new jobs, and unprecedented levels of economic growth right here in Puerto Rico.

The work is far from over, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned during my time supporting Puerto Rico’s economic recovery, it’s that this work is more effective and robust when we do it together. The Department of Commerce, alongside President Biden and Vice President Harris, look forward to continuing to help chart a prosperous path forward with the Platform for Social Impact so that all Puerto Ricans can lead lives of dignity.

This week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced the appointment of 4 new experts to the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC), which advises the President and the White House on a range of issues related to artificial intelligence (AI). 

The committee, launched in 2022, provides recommendations on topics including the current state of U.S. AI competitiveness, the state of science around AI, and AI workforce issues. The committee also is responsible for advice regarding the management and coordination of the initiative itself, including its balance of activities and funding.

“Empowering our nation’s top talent in AI across academia, industry, non-profits and civil society is fundamental to the responsible development and deployment of this generation-defining technology. That’s why NAIAC’s work is so critical to our collaborative effort to mitigate the risks so we can harness the benefits of artificial intelligence,” said Secretary Raimondo. “These new committee members represent some of the best in their field, and I am confident will play an important part in helping NAIAC to meet its mission to provide the expertise and guidance necessary to maintain U.S. global leadership on AI.”

This announcement follows the first 27 appointments to the National AI Advisory Committee in 2022 after its establishment in response to the National AI Initiative Act of 2020. The committee members were nominated by the public as expert leaders from a broad and interdisciplinary range of AI-relevant disciplines from across academia, industry, non-profits and civil society.

The newly appointed members include:

• Aneesh Chopra, Chief Strategy Officer of Arcadia; previously, he served as the first U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Virginia’s Secretary of Technology.
• Christopher Howard, Executive vice president and chief operating officer of ASU; he is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and earned a doctorate in politics as a Rhodes Scholar from the University of Oxford and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
• Angie Cooper, Executive Vice President of Heartland Forward; previously she worked in international and domestic public policy and government affairs for Walmart Stores, Inc., most recently as senior director of global public policy.
• Beth Cobert, former President of the Markle Foundation; previously she served as Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Committee members will serve three-year terms and may serve two consecutive terms at the discretion of the secretary. The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides administrative support to the committee. For more information on the NAIAC and its responsibilities, visit ai.gov/naiac.

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo met with First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko. During the meeting, Secretary Raimondo re-affirmed the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and the Department of Commerce’s commitment to supporting Ukraine in its response to Russia’s continued aggression. They discussed Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago’s recent visit to Kyiv, and the Department of Commerce’s engagements with the U.S. private sector on Ukraine’s defense, reconstruction and recovery objectives.

Hello everyone! Thank you for the warm welcome from Mayor Robinson and Administrator Hall. I am so pleased to be here in Lake City with my friend, and one of the great leaders of this country, Congressman Clyburn, to celebrate this significant milestone for disaster relief in South Carolina.

Communities in this state are unfortunately no stranger to extreme weather, and like so many other states across the country, the need for robust disaster relief resources could not be greater.

President Biden and Vice President Harris understand that when we protect our communities from the impact of natural disasters and shore up their recovery capabilities, we foster stronger economies, mitigate devastation, and save lives.

At the Department of Commerce, we are focused on creating an economy that works for all Americans, and building resilient infrastructure is key to getting us there.

That’s why our Economic Development Administration has announced the awarding of a $13.5 million grant to Lake City, South Carolina, for water infrastructure improvements needed to support local businesses.

This grant will alleviate flooding in the city, helping to reduce structural and economic damage to businesses, homes, and infrastructure. EDA’s investment will also be matched with $1.3 million dollars in local funds, demonstrating the commitment of this community and the critical importance of partnerships at all levels of government.

This project is one of many funded by legislation championed by leaders like Congressman Clyburn and as a result, nearly half a billion dollars in additional funds were provided to EDA to bolster disaster relief and recovery for areas just like here in Lake City.

Investments like these are crucial in the wake of natural disasters. Just a few short weeks ago, Hurricane Debby passed through and brought torrential rainfall. It’s a clear reminder that the devastating impacts of climate change are here right now and we must act accordingly. That’s why we’re proud to partner with Lake City to protect your economic future.

This type of extreme weather can take a disastrous toll people’s lives and livelihoods, and hinder their ability to lead lives of dignity, but make no mistake: the Biden-Harris Administration is on a mission to change that.

Our goal is not simply to help rebuild disaster impacted areas, but also to help chart this country’s course toward increased economic growth and opportunity – because when America’s communities are protected, its economy prospers. We’re creating an economy where your zip code doesn’t determine your destiny and we’re doing that by making historic investments across the nation that will give communities the launch pad they need to compete and thrive in the 21st century, and create good-paying, family sustaining jobs for the young people in the audience here today.

We’re employing strategies that center equity, so that minority and underserved communities can fully participate in these new opportunities. EDA’s Tech Hub and Recompete Programs, for example, are designed to supercharge innovation – ensuring that the economic benefits of these investments flow through all our communities, not just some. Our Internet for All Initiative is connecting households and businesses across the country to reliable, high-speed internet so that no family has to choose which of their children gets to finish their homework because their bandwidth is limited, and so that small businesses can access a broad market of customers to grow their enterprise, and so that our seniors — no matter how far they live from a doctor —- can always access telehealth when they need it.

This Administration—and our partners in Congress like Congressman Clyburn – have been working around the clock to meet you and your communities where you are, helping you take center stage in policy decisions that affect your daily lives.

I’m excited to see these resources make a real, measurable impact for this city and for this state, and I look forward to working with Congressman Clyburn and leaders across the state to ensure South Carolinian’s safety, security, and success.

Hello everyone! I’m pleased to be here in Rosemont, celebrating this investment with you all.  Thank you to the Sustainability Institute for hosting this event and bringing together this coalition of local and state leaders, including Mayor Cogswell, Mayor Burgess, and Representative Wetmore.  The importance of this work to advance sustainability in South Carolina can’t be overstated.

I would also like to extend a special thanks to my friend Congressman Clyburn –one of our country’s greatest leaders – who could not be here today but is an incredible partner and steadfast advocate for his constituents.

The Biden Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that every community across the country is on a path toward long term prosperity and success. By  making targeted investments designed with your greatest needs in mind, we are one step closer to a stronger and more sustainable tomorrow.

Key to that mission is climate resiliency and ensuring that underrepresented communities have every opportunity to adapt and thrive in our rapidly changing world.

What we know now more than ever is that underserved communities are often the hardest hit by climate change and in low country, access to essential services can be cut off at the first sign of high tide.

That’s why NOAA is committing significant resources to efforts right here in South Carolina that directly support habitat restoration. And this is where The Sustainability Institute comes into the picture.

As a recipient of the Tribes and Underserved Communities Habitat Restoration grant from NOAA, the Sustainability Institute will

• Invest in coastal restoration and climate resilience work along the South Carolina coast, 
• And provide employment opportunities to local community members.

This investment is part of a $45 million dollar commitment supporting 27 different efforts in all corners of our country, funded through landmark legislation, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, which were championed by Congressman Clyburn and signed into law by President Biden.

When we uplift communities in need, we all benefit. This work saves lives and secures livelihoods, and it wouldn’t be possible without the leaders alongside me today or the community members who are dedicated to realizing a brighter future for themselves and their loved ones.

We look forward to strengthening our partnership with The Sustainability Institute and continuing to build an economy that works for all South Carolinians, and Americans, together.

Good morning. Thank you to Isaiah Wonnenberg with the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and Frank Jannuzi from the Mansfield Foundation for organizing this event along with their partners from ASTEC. 

The U.S.-Japan relationship has special meaning to me. In 1860, my three-times great-grandfather, James Wormley, a hotelier and small businessman in Washington, DC, hosted and catered the first Japanese Commission to visit the United States.

This meeting – 164 years later – comes at a time when the U.S.-Japan relationship has never been stronger and more important, not only for our two countries but for the Indo-Pacific and the world.

The United States is undertaking unprecedented efforts with partners in the region to realize the vision of an Indo-Pacific that is, in President Biden’s words, “open, connected, prosperous, resilient, and secure.”

To this end, the Administration and the Commerce Department are doing three things:

First, we are making strategic domestic investments while also deepening commercial ties with our allies in critical and emerging domains, like space, that will have an outsized impact on our economies.

Second, we are taking steps to protect our national security by fostering trusted tech ecosystems, combating economic coercion, and preventing malign actors from using sensitive goods and technologies to undermine our national security and the security of our partners and allies.

Third, we are expanding our engagement, along with the private sector, in the Global South to offer our partners more attractive infrastructure alternatives to help meet their most pressing economic needs.

In each of these areas, the relationships between the United States and Japan are not only indispensable in ensuring our own success, but also for security and prosperity in the rest of the world.

We at the Department of Commerce are thrilled to be at the forefront of U.S. efforts to grow the space economy.

We have reorganized and elevated our Office of Space Commerce, under Director Richard DalBello, who has decades of experience in the industry.

Two years ago, we formed the Commercial Space Coordination Committee. It includes the heads of nearly every Commerce bureau, because our work expanding space commerce isn’t confined to one office, but involves international trade, economic development, broadband-expansion efforts, cybersecurity expertise, and even minority business outreach to expand our supplier base.

We have organized our space commerce efforts into five areas of focus.

First, we are working to coordinate regulatory functions.

In order to invest and compete, businesses need clarity, consistency, and transparency. We have strongly supported Vice President Harris’s work through the National Space Council to ensure the United States establishes a clear, modern, and comprehensive regulatory framework.

We have also increased and sped up our licensing of commercial remote sensing satellites and eliminated more than 40 operating restrictions that had previously been imposed on U.S. imaging satellites, with plans to remove even more restrictions in the near future. This streamlining has reduced the average time to issue a license from 48 days in 2020 to 14 days today – a 70% reduction.

Second, we are growing the customer base for U.S. commercial space goods and services.

Many of you took part in last year’s Track 1.5 session during the U.S.-Japan Comprehensive Space Dialogue in Tokyo. We have similar engagements with Korea, India, Singapore, the UK, the Quad, and others. As we grow these relationships, we also grow opportunities for the expansion of space commerce.

And there is no U.S. partner better than Japan who understands the market conditions necessary for entering advanced technology markets like space. 

So, it’s crucial that we coordinate and partner as other countries look to our example, especially emerging players in the Global South.

Third, we are improving space safety and sustainability.

Space situational awareness, or SSA, is an essential element of space traffic coordination for spaceflight safety and the sustainability of Earth’s increasingly congested orbits. In 2018, the Commerce Department was assigned responsibility for providing basic SSA services to commercial and civil space operators, a major new mission area that we are taking over from the Department of Defense. With thousands of new satellites now being launched each year, we recognize the urgency of fulfilling this mission to prevent the next catastrophic collision in space.

In the past year, we have made strides in building what we are calling our Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS. This system will enable commercial growth by providing the data and alerts needed to keep space operations safe and sustainable.

In addition, we are being very careful not to compete with the burgeoning commercial SSA market, but rather to leverage commercially available SSA software, data, and analytics to support our system.

We are nearing the launch of the TraCSS system at the end of September and look forward to coordinating with our counterparts in Japan to provide accurate and consistent alerts and warnings to operators in both our countries.

Our fourth area of focus is about promoting innovation, which is foundational to everything we do at the Commerce Department.

As part of this work, we are buying commercially available satellite data to improve weather forecasting while at the same time fostering the growth of new markets for satellite services.

We also know that next-generation satellite systems – and new space enterprises built to service and work with those systems – are going to need spectrum to develop to their full potential. We are doing all that we can with the  Federal Communications Commission and the International Telecommunication Union to ensure that spectrum is available both for federal and private sector missions.

Finally, we are advancing Earth observation capabilities to empower better decision making.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been reimagining what its weather forecasting and climate monitoring satellite architecture could look like and has engaged with the community and issued study contracts to develop a more advanced and agile architecture in Low Earth Orbit and for space weather. We are building on-ramps for new technology and opening the door to more data purchases, rideshares, and hosted payloads.

Through all of this, I hope it’s clear that the Commerce Department sees the Trans-Pacific commercial space industry as vital to our country’s continued global competitiveness.

We’re eager to hear about the outcomes from today’s meeting and any subsequent engagements that come from this U.S.-Japan network of commercial space operators, because if we are going to grow U.S. and Japanese commercial space businesses, then we need to keep hearing from commercial space businesses.

And it is this dialogue that will facilitate the clarity, consistency, and transparency that will allow our countries to build their competitive edge in the new commercial space economy. Thank you for your time, and best wishes for today’s dialogue.

Proposed Investment Would Support Expansion and Modernization of Existing Campus and Create Over 250 Manufacturing and Construction Jobs

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the Department of Commerce and HP Inc. have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $50 million in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. The proposed funding would support the expansion and modernization of HP’s existing facility in Corvallis, Oregon, which is part of the company’s “lab-to-fab” ecosystem in the region that spans from research and development (“R&D”) activities to commercial manufacturing operations. President Biden and Vice President Harris championed the CHIPS and Science Act, a key component of the Investing in America agenda, to usher in a new era of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, bringing with it a revitalized domestic supply chain, good-paying jobs, and investments in the industries of the future. Through this proposed investment, the Biden-Harris Administration would enhance U.S. technological leadership by driving innovation of groundbreaking semiconductor technologies that serve important end markets, notably including life sciences instrumentation and technology hardware used in artificial intelligence applications.

Rooted in HP’s unique expertise in microfluidics and microelectromechanical systems (“MEMS”), the company’s innovative technology provides a unique pathway to drive improved performance and efficiency of semiconductor-based hardware. Among other products, the proposed funding would support the manufacturing of silicon devices that are key components of life sciences lab equipment which are used in drug discovery, single-cell research, and cell line development. By leveraging HP’s capabilities in microfluidics and MEMS, these devices allow for increased speed and precision during life sciences R&D. The company’s devices serve important focus areas for public health initiatives, and enable performance efficiencies for partner institutions across academia, government, and the private sector including Harvard Medical School, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Merck.

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s proposed investment in HP shows how we are investing in every part of the semiconductor supply chain and how important semiconductor technology is to innovation in drug discovery and critical life science equipment,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Thanks to President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, the United States will continue leading the world in innovative breakthroughs which all require advanced semiconductor technology while also generating economic opportunity.”

“The Biden-Harris administration continues to deliver on our promise to bring a strong semiconductor ecosystem back to the United States and create good-paying jobs as seen by today’s investment. America invented the chip, and our nation’s ingenuity has always driven us forward,” said Natalie Quillian, White House Deputy Chief of Staff. “HP has long been a part of this great history of American innovation, and thanks to President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, we are ensuring that America continues to lead the next generation of technologies.” 

The proposed project would build on the company’s 47-year presence in Corvallis and commitment to the local workforce – specifically, the project is estimated to create nearly 150 construction jobs and over 100 manufacturing jobs. The company’s construction partner, Andersen Construction, has entered into a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for this project. HP plays a pivotal role in the National Science Foundation Engines Development Program–Advancing Semiconductor Technologies in the Northwest to grow the semiconductor industry through strategic opportunities in innovation, entrepreneurship, research, manufacturing, workforce training, and more. Further, HP is working with Portland Community College on training and recruitment programs and has representatives currently serving on a technical advisory council for Linn-Benton Community College. HP has also voluntarily adopted the CHIPS Women in Construction Framework and will work with contractors, trade unions, and other community and workforce partners to implement best practices aimed at expanding the construction workforce by increasing the participation of women and economically disadvantaged individuals.

“It is imperative that we continue to curate and grow a U.S. semiconductor ecosystem where fabs are receiving the latest technology onshore, and then bringing those innovations to market. This all happens with proposed investments in companies like HP,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Laurie E. Locascio. “The opportunity that companies such as HP have to push our industry further than we’ve ever gone before is inspiring, motivating and an incredible moment to be a part of. This is all possible thanks to President Biden and Vice President Harris’s CHIPS and Science Act, which is helping position the United States as a global leader for efficiently bringing chips from idea to market and permanently revolutionizing our manufacturing capabilities.”

“This proposed investment provides HP with an opportunity to modernize and expand our facility to further invest in our microfluidics technology, which is the study of the behavior and control of fluid on a microscopic scale. Microfluidics has the potential to drive revolutionary changes across industries, delivering speed, efficiency, and precision, to help pave the way for the next generation of innovation in life sciences and technology. We would like to thank the Biden-Harris Administration and Secretary Raimondo for this proposed investment, as well as the Oregon congressional delegation and state leader for their support and advocacy throughout this process. We look forward to continuing to work to accelerate our innovation in microfluidics and MEMS technology while expanding our manufacturing and R&D capabilities in Corvallis, all made possible by President Biden and Vice President Harris’s CHIPS and Science Act,” said Enrique Lores, President and CEO, HP.

The development and expansion facilitated by the proposed funding would bolster the lab-to-fab ecosystem that HP has established in Corvallis, which also serves as one of three R&D Centers for Excellence within the company’s global footprint. In addition to continued domestic investment in the company’s internal research and development, HP has opened its Corvallis campus to collaborative R&D efforts with academic institutions and startups. Of note, HP donated a 25-year lease of a portion of its Corvallis campus to Oregon State University (OSU) – this 80,000 sq. ft. manufacturing and R&D facility has incubated 39 different companies, including 20 that spun out from OSU faculty and students. The Corvallis campus provides resources and tools for startups and entrepreneurs to build innovative products locally in Oregon and provides an opportunity for these companies to grow and reinvest in the domestic ecosystem.

Additionally, HP aims to use 100% renewable electricity to power its global operations by 2025. The company has indicated that it plans to claim the Department of the Treasury’s Investment Tax Credit, which is expected to be up to 25% of qualified capital expenditures.

As explained in its first Notice of Funding Opportunity, the Department of Commerce may offer applicants a PMT on a non-binding basis after satisfactory completion of the merit review of a full application. The PMT outlines key terms for a potential CHIPS incentives award, including the amount and form of the award. The award amounts are subject to due diligence and negotiation of award documents and are conditional on the achievement of certain milestones. After a PMT is signed, the Department of Commerce begins a comprehensive due diligence process on the proposed projects and continues negotiating or refining certain terms with the applicant. The terms contained in any final award documents may differ from the terms of the PMT being announced today.

CHIPS for America

Over two years after the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, the Biden-Harris Administration is moving full speed ahead in order to help protect our economic and national security and restore American leadership in an industry that we started decades ago. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, semiconductor and electronics companies have announced over $400 billion in private investments, catalyzed in large part by public investment. By allocating over $32 billion in proposed funding across 16 states to build factories domestically and proposing to invest billions more in research and innovation, CHIPS for America is creating an estimated 115,000+ jobs, including tens of thousands of good-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree. Our efforts are a meaningful step towards ensuring that the United States produces more of the world’s most advanced technologies – from AI to defense systems and everyday items like cars and medical devices. With a focus on expanding capacity, enhancing capabilities, maintaining competitiveness, and driving commercialization, CHIPS for America is working towards driving our future, securing our supply chains, and cementing America’s place at the forefront of technology.

CHIPS for America is part of President Biden’s economic plan to invest in America, stimulate private sector investment, create good-paying jobs, make more in the United States, and revitalize communities left behind. CHIPS for America includes the CHIPS Program Office, responsible for manufacturing incentives, and the CHIPS Research and Development Office, responsible for R&D programs, that both sit within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the Department of Commerce. Visit https://www.chips.gov to learn more.

Today, the United States announced its list of critical sectors and key goods for potential cooperation under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement to strengthen supply chain resiliency. This is a key milestone in implementing the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement to establish a framework for deeper collaboration to prevent, mitigate, and prepare for supply chain disruptions.

The IPEF Supply Chain Council, one of the three bodies established under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement, lays the foundation for collaboration on supply chain opportunities and challenges across the Indo-Pacific. Through the work of the Council, Parties may collaborate to enhance the resilience, sustainability, and diversification of IPEF supply chains and explore opportunities to identify best practices and advance policies, measures, or actions positively impacting trade among the Parties in critical sectors or key goods.

Under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement, each Party committed to developing a list of “critical sectors” and “key goods” for cooperation under the Agreement, to be shared through the Council. These lists are intended to be iterative and change as needed over time.

The International Trade Administration’s Industry & Analysis unit conducted in-house analyses of supply chains for sectors and goods for potential near-term U.S. opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region, supplemented by public input obtained via a Federal Register Notice (FRN) in June 2024 and interagency consultations.

Ultimately, sectors and goods notified by multiple Parties may be selected as the subject of Action Plans to identify shared vulnerabilities and opportunities to build resilience per Article 10 of the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement. The U.S. list below is specifically for use in the context of the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement and is not a definitive list of U.S. priorities for the purposes of any other U.S. government supply chain efforts, nor a definitive list of what the IPEF Supply Chain Council will prioritize for discussion and action. The United States does not anticipate that all of the sectors and goods on this list will be selected for Action Plans, which will be decided by the Council. This list can be updated in the future as needed. The United States continues to seek input on sectors and goods for consideration under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement, and the U.S. list of critical sectors and key goods can be updated in the future accordingly.

U.S. List of Critical Sectors and Key Goods for Potential Cooperation under the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement

Agriculture 

Chemicals 

Consumer Goods 

Critical Minerals and Mining 

Energy/Environmental Industries, including: 

• Advanced batteries, including components and materials 
• Carbon management/capture technologies  
• Electric grid equipment and technologies 
• Forgings and die castings 
• Hydropower, including components and materials 
• Hydrogen, including components and materials, as well as molecular derivatives  
• Permanent magnets 
• Nuclear energy, including components and materials  
• Solar energy systems, including panels, components, and materials  
• Water and wastewater treatment equipment and chemicals 
• Wind turbines, including components and materials 

Health Industries, including:  

• Medical devices 
• Personal protective equipment 
• Pharmaceuticals (particularly Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), generic drugs, and biological products) 
• Vitamins and amino acids 

Information and Communication Technology Products, including: 

• Audiovisual technology (particularly displays) 
• Semiconductors (focused on assembly, testing, and packaging (ATP)) 
• Telecommunication network equipment (particularly switches and routers) 
• Electronics manufacturing services 

Transportation and Logistics, including:  

• Aerospace and aerospace components, including aircraft equipment  
• Automotive parts (particularly electronic components, sensors, engines, transmissions, and electric motors used in vehicles) 
• Cargo handling equipment (particularly cranes) and the movement of shipping containers 
• Heavy/medium duty trucks, including parts and materials 
• Mass transit equipment, including transit buses, motor coaches, and rail passenger cars 
• Rail equipment 
• Shipbuilding and repair (particularly shipbuilding materials, marine engines, propulsion systems, ship components, and repair equipment) 
• Transportation, logistics, and distribution services (particularly cold chain services and IT interoperability standards) 

U.S. Department of Commerce Outlines $1.6 Billion in Proposed Funding to Support Multiple Projects in Texas and Utah to Increase Production of Chips Vital for U.S. Economic and National Security

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Texas Instruments (TI) have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $1.6 billion in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen domestic supply chain resilience, advance our national security, and bolster U.S. competitiveness in current-generation and mature-node semiconductor production. President Biden and Vice President Harris championed the CHIPS and Science Act, a key component of the Investing in America agenda, to usher in a new era of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, bringing with it a revitalized domestic supply chain, good-paying jobs, and investments in the industries of the future. The proposed funding would support TI’s investment of more than $18 billion through the end of decade to construct three new state-of-the-art facilities, including two in Texas and one in Utah, and is estimated to create over 2,000 manufacturing jobs and thousands of construction jobs over time.

Headquartered in Dallas, TI is a global leading manufacturer of analog and embedded processing semiconductors. The company has played an important role in the U.S. economy for almost a century, with the invention of the integrated circuit, creating the technological foundation for the modern electronics and semiconductor industries. Today, TI specializes in the production of current-generation and mature-node chips, also referred to as “foundational” chips, which are the building blocks for nearly all electronic systems, including power management integrated circuits, microcontrollers, amplifiers, sensors, and more. TI’s planned projects would meaningfully support the increasing needs for economic and national security applications – areas that TI has supported for decades.

“During the pandemic, shortages of current-generation and mature-node chips fueled inflation and made our country less safe. With this proposed investment from the Biden-Harris Administration in TI, a global leader of production for current-generation and mature-node chips, we would help secure the supply chain for these foundational semiconductors that are used in every sector of the U.S. economy, and create thousands of jobs in Texas and Utah,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “The CHIPS for America program will supercharge American technology and innovation and make our country more secure – and TI is expected to be an important part of the success of the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to revitalize semiconductor manufacturing and development in the U.S.”

“Americans across the country felt the impact of semiconductor shortages during the pandemic—from car and appliance scarcities, to manufacturing lines halted and jobs lost. With the CHIPS and Science Act, President Biden and Vice President Harris took action to strengthen our supply chains, create good-paying jobs, and advance U.S. competitiveness,” said Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Arati Prabhakar. “Texas Instruments is a global leader in foundational chip manufacturing, and thanks to the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, TI is investing in our future here at home.”

Shortages of current-generation and mature-node chips were one of the driving factors of supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing acute impacts on the U.S. automotive, industrial, and defense industries, and on the availability of goods for Americans. TI’s more than $18 billion planned investment through the end of the decade across these three facilities would significantly increase its domestic production capacity of foundational chips, bolstering resilience against major economic disruptions. As one of the only companies building high-volume 300-mm wafer capacity for foundational technologies in the United States, this proposed CHIPS investment would help support CHIPS for America’s Vision for Success by substantially increasing domestic manufacturing capabilities for mature-node chips.

“The historic CHIPS Act is enabling more semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the U.S., making the semiconductor ecosystem stronger and more resilient,” said Haviv Ilan, president and CEO of Texas Instruments. “Our investments further strengthen our competitive advantage in manufacturing and technology as we expand our 300mm manufacturing operations in the U.S. With plans to grow our internal manufacturing to more than 95% by 2030, we’re building geopolitically dependable, 300mm capacity at scale to provide the analog and embedded processing chips our customers will need for years to come.”

The proposed CHIPS funding would be split across three projects in two locations:

• Sherman, Texas: Construction of two new, large-scale 300-mm fabrication facilities that are expected to produce 65nm – 130nm essential chips, with anticipated production capacity of more than one hundred million chips every day. The Sherman site is one of the only greenfield production sites for chips on 300-mm wafers in the U.S.
•  Lehi, Utah: Construction of a new, large-scale 300-mm fabrication facility to produce 28nm – 65nm analog and embedded processing chips, which is anticipated to produce tens of millions of chips every day. This project represents the largest economic investment in Utah’s history.

TI will continue to further its strategic approach of building closer direct customer relationships and maintaining inventory for high levels of customer service, both of which would help advance U.S. economic security.

“One of the four main pillars Secretary Raimondo laid out for successful implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act is the United States increasing its production capacity for current-generation and mature-node chips most vital to U.S. economic and national security,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Laurie E. Locascio. “With our proposed investment in the world’s global leader of current-generation and mature-node chips, we would significantly advance our economic and national security and mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities, which were the driving factors of the CHIPS and Science Act.”

The proposed investment is estimated to create over 2,000 manufacturing jobs and thousands of construction jobs over time. Additionally, the PMT includes $10 million in proposed dedicated workforce funding to support the development of the company’s semiconductor and construction workforce. TI is committed to building a future-ready workforce, and invests in enhancing the skills of current employees, expanding internships and creating pipeline programs with a focus on building electronic and mechanical skills. TI has robust engagements with 40 community colleges, high schools, and military institutions across the U.S. to develop future semiconductor talent. TI provides their employees with a range of child care benefits that include Flexible Spending Accounts, paid parental leave, and services to match employee families with commercial child care centers according to their preferences. The company also plans to partner with additional providers to increase availability of child care services near their facilities.

The company has indicated that it plans to claim the Department of the Treasury’s Investment Tax Credit, which is expected to be up to 25% of qualified capital expenditures. In addition to the proposed direct funding of up to $1.6 billion, the CHIPS Program Office would make approximately $3 billion in proposed loans – which is part of the $75 billion in loan authority provided by the CHIPS and Science Act – available to TI under the PMT.

As explained in its first Notice of Funding Opportunity, the Department may offer applicants a PMT on a non-binding basis after satisfactory completion of the merit review of a full application. The PMT outlines key terms for a potential CHIPS incentives award, including the amount and form of the award. The award amounts are subject to due diligence and negotiation of award documents and are conditional on the achievement of certain milestones. After the PMT is signed, the Department begins a comprehensive due diligence process on the proposed projects and continues negotiating or refining certain terms with the applicant. The terms contained in any final award documents may differ from the terms of the PMT being announced today.

About CHIPS for America

Over two years after the passage of CHIPS and Science Act, the Biden-Harris Administration is moving full speed ahead in order to help protect our economic and national security and restore American leadership in an industry that we started decades ago. Since the beginning of the Administration, semiconductor and electronics companies have announced nearly $400 billion in private investments, catalyzed in large part by public investment. By allocating over $31 billion in proposed funding across 15 states to build factories domestically and proposing to invest billions more in research and innovation, CHIPS for America is creating an estimated 100,000+ jobs, including tens of thousands of good-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree. Our efforts are a meaningful step towards ensuring that the United States produces more of the world’s most advanced technologies – from AI to defense systems and everyday items like cars and medical devices. With a focus on expanding capacity, enhancing capabilities, maintaining competitiveness, and driving commercialization, CHIPS for America is working towards driving our future, securing our supply chains, and cementing America’s place at the forefront of technology.

CHIPS for America is part of President Biden’s economic plan to invest in America, stimulate private sector investment, create good-paying jobs, make more in the United States, and revitalize communities left behind. CHIPS for America includes the CHIPS Program Office, responsible for manufacturing incentives, and the CHIPS Research and Development Office, responsible for R&D programs, that both sit within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the Department of Commerce. Visit https://www.chips.gov to learn more.

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it will hold, with the Council on Foreign Relations, a Supply Chain Summit in Washington, D.C. on September 10, 2024. 

The Supply Chain Summit will explore efforts taken by government and industry to shift from reacting to global supply chain disruptions to proactively strengthening supply chain resilience. The Summit will gather leaders from industry, government, academia, and civil society to collaborate and share best practices for preventing and addressing supply chain vulnerabilities.  

During the event, the Department of Commerce will highlight its unique role in assessing and addressing supply chain challenges, including launching a first of its kind Supply Chain Center in the International Trade Administration’s Industry and Analysis unit. The Supply Chain Center fuses deep industry expertise and data analytics to develop supply chain risk assessment tools, deliver key insights, and drive targeted action on select critical supply chains and emerging technologies.

“Securing American supply chains is vital to protecting our national security and enhancing our economic competitiveness,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This summit will help us both engage with industry and highlight strategies the Biden-Harris Administration is leading to develop data-driven tools and proactively make our supply chains more secure.”

Media who would like to register for the September 10 event should email publicaffairs@doc.gov and communications@cfr.org. 

Further information about the hybrid Supply Chain Summit and the Department of Commerce’s Supply Chain Center, will be available at trade.gov/supply-chain-center in the near future.

On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo convened a roundtable discussion with investors to discuss non-market actions from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that threaten to distort the market for mature node (or “legacy”) semiconductors. Secretary Raimondo emphasized her concern that over the past few years, the U.S. has seen signs of concerning practices from the PRC to overproduce legacy chips and prevent U.S. companies, and those in like-minded countries, from competing on a level playing field. The Secretary underscored that securing the semiconductor supply chain is an economic and national security priority and reiterated the actions that the Department of Commerce—and the whole federal government—are taking. Those actions include imposing targeted tariffs on semiconductors imported from the PRC, an industrial base survey of the U.S. semiconductor supply chain, joint efforts with international partners, and restrictions on the use of PRC semiconductors in U.S. government procurement. Investors discussed how companies are thinking about oversupply and overconcentration risk, and how additional U.S. government actions could most effectively support resilient semiconductor supply chains.

Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act Attracts All Five Major Leading-Edge Logic and Memory Companies to Produce Chips on U.S. Soil

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and SK hynix have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $450 million in proposed federal incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act to establish a high-bandwidth memory (HBM) advanced packaging fabrication and research and development (R&D) facility. President Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act to usher in a new era of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, bringing with it a revitalized domestic supply chain, good-paying jobs, and investments in the industries of the future. The proposed CHIPS investment builds upon SK hynix’s investment of approximately $3.87 billion in West Lafayette, Indiana, to build a memory packaging plant for artificial intelligence (AI) products and an advanced packaging R&D facility, creating approximately 1,000 new jobs and filling a critical gap in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain.

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s CHIPS and Science Act is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to supercharge America’s global technology leadership and create quality jobs in the process. Today’s historic announcement with SK hynix would further solidify America’s AI hardware supply chain in a way no other country on earth can match, with every major player in advanced semiconductor manufacturing and packaging building or expanding on our shores,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Because of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, we are creating hundreds of new jobs in Indiana and ensuring the Hoosier state and Purdue University will play a crucial role in advancing America’s national security and supply chains.”

“President Biden and Vice President Harris are bringing the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States,” said Arati Prabhakar, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “Advanced packaging is more and more critical for AI and other leading-edge systems, but it requires extremely precise manufacturing processes. With this incentive from the CHIPS and Science Act, SK hynix will make a major contribution to the complex computing systems that our nation relies on. At the same time, we are making the R&D investments to win the future, too.”

The West Lafayette plant builds on SK Group’s previously announced multi-billion commitment to invest in American manufacturing, including EV batteries and biotechnology, which was announced during a meeting with President Biden in July 2022. Through the proposed CHIPS investment in SK hynix, the world’s leading producer of HBM, the Biden-Harris Administration would take a meaningful step in advancing the security of the U.S. AI supply chain. With this announcement, the United States will have preliminary agreements with all five of the world’s leading-edge logic, memory, and advanced packaging providers. No other economy in the world has more than two of these companies producing leading-edge chips on its shores. 

SK hynix’s West Lafayette facility, located at the Purdue University Research Park, will be home to an advanced semiconductor packaging line that will mass-produce next generation HBM. These high-performance memory chips are crucial components of graphics processing units (GPUs) that train AI systems due to their increased processing power. This next generation chip would be mass-produced at the West Lafayette facility and will boast a more advanced performance than the company’s latest HBM, which processes up to 1.18 terabytes of data – the equivalent of 230 full HD movies – per second. Mass production at the facility is expected to begin in the second half of 2028.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to inventing and commercializing semiconductor technology in the United States and to promoting domestic semiconductor manufacturing. With President Biden and Vice President Harris’ proposed investment in SK hynix, we could advance our commitment to accomplishing both,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Laurie E. Locascio. “With proposed investments in companies like SK hynix, the United States has the opportunity to be the only country in the world where every company capable of producing leading-edge chips will have both a high-volume manufacturing presence and a significant research and development presence.”

As a result of this proposed investment, the Biden-Harris Administration would establish a research hub in Indiana because of SK hynix’s partnership with Purdue University, which hosts the largest facility of its kind at a U.S. university, while bringing next generation HBM and advanced packaging R&D to the United States. The next generation HBM that will be researched and developed, mass-produced, and packaged in this ecosystem with Purdue University will play an important role in the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem and advancing U.S. technological leadership.

“We deeply appreciate the U.S. Department of Commerce’s support and are excited to collaborate in seeing this transformational project fully realized,” said SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung. “We are moving forward with the construction of the Indiana production base, working with the State of Indiana, Purdue University and our U.S. business partners to ultimately supply leading-edge AI memory products from West Lafayette. We look forward to establishing a new hub for AI technology, creating skilled jobs for Indiana and helping build a more robust, resilient supply chain for the global semiconductor industry.”

SK hynix will collaborate with Purdue University on plans for future R&D projects, which include working on advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration with Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center and other research institutes and industry partners. SK hynix plans to collaborate on projects for memory-centric solutions and architecture for generative AI – specifically memory design and in/near memory computing. As part of its workforce development efforts, SK hynix plans to work with Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College to develop training programs and interdisciplinary degree curricula that will cultivate a high-tech workforce and build a reliable pipeline of new talent. Additionally, SK hynix plans to support the work of the Purdue Research Foundation and other local non-profits and charities by building partnerships that provide community development, growth opportunities, and leadership training.

The company has indicated that it plans to claim the Department of the Treasury’s Investment Tax Credit, which is expected to be up to 25% of qualified capital expenditures. In addition to the proposed direct funding of up to $450 million, the CHIPS Program Office would make up to $500 million of proposed loans – which is part of the $75 billion in loan authority provided by the CHIPS and Science Act – available to SK hynix under the non-binding PMT.

As explained in its first Notice of Funding Opportunity, the Department may offer applicants a PMT on a non-binding basis after satisfactory completion of the merit review of a full application. The PMT outlines key terms for a potential CHIPS incentives award, including the amount and form of the award. The award amounts are subject to due diligence and negotiation of award documents and are conditional on the achievement of certain milestones. After the PMT is signed, the Department begins a comprehensive due diligence process on the proposed projects and continues negotiating or refining certain terms with the applicant. The terms contained in any final award documents may differ from the terms of the PMT being announced today.

About CHIPS for America

Nearly two years after the passage of CHIPS and Science Act, the Biden-Harris Administration is moving full speed ahead in order to help protect our economic and national security and restore American leadership in an industry that we started decades ago. By allocating over $30 billion in proposed funding to build factories domestically and proposing to invest billions more in research and innovation, we are unlocking over $300 billion in public and private investment and creating more than 100,000 jobs, including tens of thousands of good-paying jobs that don't require a college degree. Our efforts are a meaningful step towards ensuring that the United States produces more of the world’s most advanced technologies – from AI to defense systems and everyday items like cars and medical devices. With a focus on expanding capacity, enhancing capabilities, maintaining competitiveness, and driving commercialization, CHIPS for America is working towards driving our future, securing our supply chains, and cementing America’s place at the forefront of technology.

CHIPS for America is part of President Biden’s economic plan to invest in America, stimulate private sector investment, create good-paying jobs, make more in the United States, and revitalize communities left behind. CHIPS for America includes the CHIPS Program Office, responsible for manufacturing incentives, and the CHIPS Research and Development Office, responsible for R&D programs, that both sit within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the Department of Commerce. Visit https://www.chips.gov to learn more.