US, EU Said to Halt Subsidy Race to Encourage Chips Production, Move to Be Announced Soon

The move is expected to be announced at the ongoing US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

By Reuters | Updated: 16 May 2022 10:48 IST

US, EU Said to Halt Subsidy Race to Encourage Chips Production, Move to Be Announced Soon

The TTC pledged to deepen transatlantic cooperation to strengthen chip supply chains

Highlights

Washington and Brussels want to encourage chip investment
EU trade chief Dombrovskis antitrust chief Vestager will also participate
The Council will also announce a new cooperation scheme

The United States and European Union will announce a joint effort to avert a "subsidy race" as they scramble to boost production of scarce semiconductor chips, a senior Biden administration official said.

The move will be unveiled at the second meeting of the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC), taking place on Sunday and Monday in Paris.

The TTC pledged at an inauguration conference last year in Pittsburgh to deepen transatlantic cooperation to strengthen chip supply chains, curb China's non-market trade practices, and take a more unified approach to regulating big, global technology firms.

EU Antitrust Chief Appeals for Global Approach Towards Big Tech

"You'll see us announce... a transatlantic approach to semiconductor investments aimed at ensuring security of supply," a senior administration official told reporters in a call Friday previewing the meeting.

Both Washington and Brussels want to encourage chip investment, and to "do so in a coordinated fashion and don't simply encourage a subsidy race," the official added.

A persistent industry-wide shortage of chips has disrupted production in the automotive and electronics industries, forcing some firms to scale back production. But US legislation that would grant chipmakers $52 billion (roughly Rs. 4,03,970 crore) in funding to expand output has been stuck in Congress.

Apple, Other US Tech Giants May Prefer Fines to Compliances: EU Antitrust Chief

The official said an early warning system to pinpoint and address semiconductor supply chain disruptions would also be announced as part of the meeting, which will be headlined by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo, and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis and EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager will also participate, the official said.

The Council will also announce a new cooperation scheme which the official said was intended to combat disinformation online, such as false Russian claims related to its invasion of Ukraine. Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation."

How is Alexa faring in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.