On April 12, U.S. President Joe Biden held an online meeting with representatives of nearly 20 major corporate executives in the automotive, biotechnology and consumer electronics industries at the White House.

About 20 company executives attended the summit

According to Reuters, as of noon on the 9th local time, 19 major companies have agreed to send executives to the meeting, including AT&T, Samsung, Google parent company Alphabet, Dell Technologies, Intel, medical equipment company Medtronic, military supplies With radar maker Northrop Grumman, Hewlett-Packard, diesel engine developer Cummins and memory maker Micron Technology.

In addition, executives from GF and NXP will be in attendance, and TSMC confirmed that it has received an invitation, but provided no other details.

White House officials confirmed the three major U.S. automakers GM, Ford and Chrysler will attend the summit.

Attendees also included Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Jay Sullivan and Director of the National Economic Council Diess, as well as Commerce Secretary Raimondo. Diess said in a statement that the summit reflected the urgent need to strengthen critical supply chains. Sullivan said the shortage "creates a significant national security hole" and "serves as a perfect example of the urgent need for a Biden administration to prioritize economic and national security issues."

This time, Biden convened representatives of major relevant companies to discuss the shortage of chips. It can be said that he took the opportunity of a short-term problem brought about by the epidemic, hoping to find a solution for a long-term problem.

Near-term goal: Move half of the production of chips needed in the U.S. to the U.S. as soon as possible

The report said that the White House hopes to use the summit on the 11th as a platform to promote the $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan proposed by Biden at the end of the month.

The plan includes $50 billion to the U.S. semiconductor industry to help with factory construction, research and design.

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Support for the semiconductor industry has bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress, where lawmakers are worried about China's massive spending on chip-making capabilities, which Biden is seeking to use to advance his agenda.

Biden told business executives in the video conference that he had received letters the previous day from 23 senators and 42 members of the House of Representatives from both parties, who unanimously supported the "Chip for America" project. President Biden said the letter referred to China's "aggressive plan to turn around and dominate the semiconductor supply chain," and mentioned how Beijing has invested large sums of money to make it happen. He said that the United States will not take it lightly, but will step up efforts and breakthroughs.

Once again, Biden is advancing the U.S. high-tech and semiconductor chip strategy in the name of tackling China. According to White House officials, the near-term goal of the United States is to transfer half of the production of chips needed in the United States to the United States as soon as possible, which may be a specific goal of the White House chip meeting.

Intel CEO: It may be possible to regain a third of the world's production capacity

Intel has previously announced that it will spend $20 billion to build two new chip factories in the United States, and said on Monday that it is considering starting production of automotive chips within six to nine months.

Intel CEO Pat Kissinger: We're seeing an effort in Congress, and that's very critical, and having the money in place to move the industry forward, it's going to take a couple of years. Automotive chips are the most critical technology, and we are losing control of the supply chain. We must act now, not only to curb the decline, but to improve.

Pat Kissinger believes that with these efforts, the US chip industry can regain one-third of the world's production capacity, but industry analysts have pointed out that this goal may be too ambitious and unrealistic.

Christopher Rowland, senior analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group in the United States: I think the proportion of US chip production capacity in the world's total production capacity will not return to one-third of global production capacity, perhaps with the $50 billion in subsidies, It will get us to 20%, but it will be very difficult to get beyond 30%.

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As a result, Biden emphasized at the summit that his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan will "focus on building U.S. domestic semiconductor production."

It is worth mentioning that at the meeting, General Motors and Ford warned that the shortage of parts could have a combined $4.5 billion impact on their revenue this year.

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Chairman of TSMC: Confident to successfully build a factory in the United States

As for TSMC, the White House's participation in the "chat" seems to have gained a lot.

TSMC Chairman Liu Deyin said after the meeting: "TSMC is confident that the upcoming 5-nanometer advanced fab project in Phoenix, Arizona will be one of the largest foreign direct investment projects in the history of the United States. will succeed."

TSMC already has a fab in Camas, Washington, and design centers in Austin, Texas, and San Jose, California.

The Phoenix fab is the second production base established by TSMC in the United States, with an investment of US$12 billion and a planned monthly production capacity of 20,000 12-inch wafers. It is planned to start construction this year and start mass production in 2024, which will bring more than 1,600 high-tech job opportunities, indirectly creating thousands of jobs for the semiconductor industry ecosystem.

Jason Oxman, CEO of the American Information Technology Industry Council, pointed out that it is recommended that the Biden administration provide more long-term financial support and tax incentives for semiconductor manufacturing, especially for international manufacturers such as TSMC that have determined to invest heavily in the United States.

Some data show that the cost of investing in factories in the United States is 30%-50% higher than in other regions.

Samsung: or will announce the establishment of a new fab in the United States

Samsung was the only South Korean participant at Monday's White House chip meeting, and while the details of the talks between Samsung and White House officials have been kept closely guarded, insiders believe Samsung is about to announce that it will be in Texas, one of three U.S. states. , Arizona or New York to build a new fab.

"Since the investment talks are being held in the U.S., it may prompt Samsung to complete discussions with the three state governments and implement the plan soon," an industry source said.

The White House meeting was not entirely surprising, experts said, and they took the event seriously as the United States appears to be getting tougher on China, especially with regard to supply chains.

"By emphasizing (semiconductor) infrastructure, it's clear that Biden wants new cutting-edge chip-making equipment," said Kim Yang-paeng, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute of Industrial Economics.

The Biden administration, which has called on the United States to increase its influence in the global chip industry, appears to be preparing to expand existing sanctions on China. to curb the growth of China's chip industry.

"By restricting equipment imports to China, the U.S. may prompt chipmakers to choose the U.S. over China for expanded production at a time of chip shortages," Kim said.

South Korean chipmakers Samsung and SK hynix both operate large memory factories in China. More new bans would mean South Korean companies may not be able to produce advanced chips in one of its biggest markets, which could lead to lower profit margins.

Another chip industry official said: "The U.S. move to increase its national chip manufacturing is completely understandable, but we are more concerned about further sanctions on China and the impact on the South Korean chip factory there."

It is currently difficult for South Korean chipmakers to finalize their U.S. investments given the mounting pressure from the South Korean government, which has encouraged new investments in South Korea.

The South Korean government is also developing its comprehensive program for the semiconductor industry, which will focus on new investments in the foundry sector.

"It makes it more difficult for Samsung to decide on US investments," one observer said. "Between Samsung (investing between the US and South Korea) which will give Samsung a bigger advantage, help the company cut costs and Building a stronger connection with customers will be seriously considered."