Biden’s commerce secretary says Congress must pass subsidy fast to help Micron, nation

Boise-based Micron Technology wants to expand its memory-manufacturing capacity in the U.S., but it would like Congress to cough up a subsidy first.

Congress authorized subsidies last year but didn’t actually provide them — and a bill to do that is stalled.

The result? According to national news reports, some semiconductor manufacturers say they might delay costly new U.S plants, or build them abroad, where costs are far lower.

The Biden administration wants Congress to pass the bill now. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters during a White House regional press call Monday that investments in the bill could spur manufacturing and strengthen supply chains in Idaho and Texas. The bill includes $52 billion in manufacturing and research initiatives over the next 5-10 years.

“Idaho has a lot to lose by this not passing this week,” Raimondo said.

Without the incentives, the nation could fall further behind in global semiconductor production, while countries including South Korea, Japan, Germany and France compete for manufacturing contracts, Raimondo said.

“The reality is that our national security depends on our ability to invest in key technologies, including and especially semiconductors,” Raimondo said. “The United States is overly dependent on foreign countries for our supply of chips, which makes us incredibly vulnerable.”

The U.S. is dependent on Taiwan for its most sophisticated chips.

Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra wrote in a guest opinion published Saturday by the Idaho Statesman that if Congress fails to pass the act by August, business conditions will force semiconductor manufacturers like Micron, Global Wafers and Samsung to invest abroad instead.

Micron has pledged to invest $150 billion in manufacturing, research and development over the next 10 years, billions more than it traditionally has spent on those. Among its plans are a new fab, or plant to build DRAM (pronounced d-ram), dynamic random-access memory, Micron’s leading product.

“That investment includes a DRAM manufacturing facility that would be the most advanced of its kind in the world,” Mehrotra wrote. “Such a facility would be dramatically less expensive if built in Asia.”

According to Mehrotra, the cost gap for Micron is about 40%.

The company is the only memory maker in the Western Hemisphere, Mehrotra wrote. Micron is also the nation’s second-largest semiconductor manufacturer after Intel, which does not make memory chips in the U.S.

Micron has not said that it would build the DRAM fab in Idaho. Raimondo said Micron is well positioned to expand in Idaho if Congress passes the subsidies.

“What (Micron executives) have told me is that they need to expand, because they won’t be able to fulfill their customers’ orders if they don’t,” Raimondo said. “They need to move on this, this year.”

Micron employs about 6,000 people at its headquarters in Boise, where it made chips until 2009. The headquarters now doubles as the company’s principal research and development center.

Samsung, Texas Instruments and Global Wafers all plan to build and expand in Texas, pending passage of the bill, according to Raimondo.

“Idaho and Texas are states that have a lot to gain, but also the most to lose,” Raimondo said. “We know that these companies that are in your states have offers right now from other countries to expand there, and we know that they’ll take those offers.”

A spokesperson for Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said Monday that the Senate appears likely to vote on the bill this week. Risch won’t say whether he supports or opposes the bill until its details are final, the spokesperson said.

Raimondo said Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has supported it.

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