Samsung said on Tuesday that it would invest $17 billion in the construction of a semiconductor facility in Taylor, Texas, providing a significant boost to a bipartisan drive in Washington to encourage chip companies to manufacture more of their components in the United States.
The company’s choice came after months of debate over potential sites in the United States and South Korea, among other countries. In addition to facilities in Arizona and New York, the corporation, which is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of computer chips, considered a site in Austin, which is around forty minutes from Taylor’s location.
As the federal government has prodded semiconductor manufacturers to expand their operations in the United States, communities have scrambled to get a piece of the prospective boom. Taylor went to tremendous pains to persuade Samsung to locate a factory in his area. In exchange for tax benefits totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, the city, its autonomous school system, and the neighbouring county made a commitment to the firm. Semiconductor factories need a large amount of water and consistent electricity, therefore the company established an agreement with a neighbouring county to transport water for the facility.
Samsung’s decision comes at a time when there is a severe scarcity of semiconductors, which are essential in the production of items as varied as Ford F-150 pickup trucks, medical gadgets, and iPhones.
Lawmakers and the Biden administration have been increasingly worried that not enough of the critical components are manufactured in the United States of America. In recent years, China has made significant investments in encouraging the manufacturing of computer chips inside its borders, while Taiwan and South Korea each produce a significant percentage of the semiconductors produced worldwide. Policymakers are concerned that this will place the United States at a competitive disadvantage in both the economy and national security.
The facility in Taylor will be the most recent of many to be developed in the United States in recent years. Earlier this year, Intel began construction on two new plants on its current site in Arizona. Additionally, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is expanding its operations in the state.
