David Frum: Voting Against Trump
Notorious RINO and Atlantic writer David Frum joins Jamie Weinstein to explain why he’s voting for Kamala Harris this election. Frum, a former speechwriter for President…
Thought Leader: David Frum
Testimony by Chris Miller for The House Select Committee on the CCP.
Toys and tractors; planes and pacemakers; coffeemakers and construction equipment; microwaves and medical devices—inside almost every device with an on-off switch is a foundational semiconductor. These chips don’t require the most advanced manufacturing processes, but modern economies can’t work without them. A new car can have a thousand such chips inside, managing fuel injection, controlling windshield wipers, operating the automatic braking system, or modulating power supply from the battery. It was shortages of foundational chips during the pandemic that disrupted supply chains and cost U.S. manufacturers hundreds billions of dollars in losses. And it isn’t only the civilian economy that requires foundational chips. Military systems, have dozens, hundreds, or thousands of foundational chips inside.
Today most foundational chips are manufactured either in the U.S. or in close partner countries like Japan, Europe, Taiwan, Korea, or Singapore. Yet China is pouring billions of dollars into several dozen major new chipmaking facilities, known as fabs. Though China’s efforts to reach cutting edge capabilities have attracted the most attention, most of China’s new chipmaking facilities will produce foundational chips. China’s subsidy campaign for semiconductors is rivalled only by its effort to build solar panels and electric cars. The implications for America’s manufacturing base are even greater, because every industry relies on foundational chips.
Today, China has open access to the tools and components needed to manufacture foundational chips. It also has sufficient domestic expertise needed to manufacture them. In some segments of the foundational chip market, Western firms may retain technological differentiation for years to come, but for more commoditized foundational chips, China’s growing production volumes coupled with state subsidies and Beijing’s mandates to “buy Chinese” make Chinese firms highly likely to win market share, both in China and—unless policy action is taken—abroad.
This creates four risks for U.S. security and the U.S. manufacturing base:
David Frum: Voting Against Trump
Notorious RINO and Atlantic writer David Frum joins Jamie Weinstein to explain why he’s voting for Kamala Harris this election. Frum, a former speechwriter for President…
Thought Leader: David Frum
This is the latest episode of Climbing Gold with Alex Honnold. Tucked away in a corner of Chilean Patagonia, Valle Cochamó wasn’t going to stay hidden…
Thought Leader: Alex Honnold
Sanjay Gupta: Self-Exams Matter
This is the latest episode of Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sara Sidner is a hard-hitting CNN journalist. Ananda Lewis is a content creator and former…
Thought Leader: Sanjay Gupta