The U.S. Department of Commerce will award Samsung up to $6.4 billion in grants to boost Texas microchip output. Funding from the 2022 Chips and Science Act will support two chip production facilities, a research center and a packaging facility, in Taylor and expand its Austin semiconductor facility, boosting chip output for the aerospace, defense and auto industries and bolstering national security. Samsung is expected to invest roughly $45 billion in building and expanding its Texas facilities through the end of the decade.

Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo says, “These investments will allow the U.S. to once again lead the world, not just in semiconductor design, which is where we do now lead, but also in manufacturing, advanced packaging, research and development.” The goal is to reduce reliance on China and Taiwan, as the U.S. share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity has fallen from 37 percent in 1990 to 12 percent  in 2020, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.

Lawmakers have warned that U.S. dependence on chips manufactured in Taiwan by the world's top contract chip manufacturer, TSMC, is risky because China claims the self-governed island as its territory and has reserved the right to use force to retake it.