A bill passed by Congress last week will invest billions of dollars in the American semiconductor industry. It’s now on President Joe Biden’s desk, and he’s expected to sign it.
The bill would send over $52 billion to domestic computer chip makers. That includes GlobalFoundries, which operates a plant in Essex Junction and is Vermont’s largest private sector employer.
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This bill, which is called the CHIPS Act, wouldn’t just be giving them money, it would also give them a tax credit. It would apply a 25% tax discount when companies buy the machines used to make semiconductors. Those machines are really expensive. They cost millions of dollars each. Doug O’Laughlin, who publishes a newsletter about the semiconductor industry, told me this tax credit would be a big deal for GlobalFoundries.
"Global Foundries is spending billions a year," O'Laughlin said. "So those billions of dollars, they essentially get a 25% rebate straight back to them."
