Cornyn, McCaul Op-Ed: President Trump Must Focus on CHIPS Act for Texas, U.S. Manufacturing Success
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Congressman Michael McCaul (TX-10) authored the following op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman highlighting the opportunity to strengthen and reclaim the nation’s CHIPS program created through their Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, which was signed into law in 2022, to restore semiconductor manufacturing back to American soil.
President Trump must focus on CHIPS act for Texas, U.S. manufacturing success
Senator Cornyn and Congressman McCaul
Austin American-Statesman
January 27, 2025
As President Donald Trump retakes the White House alongside Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress, the roadmap of policy priorities is quickly taking shape. One of his golden opportunities is to strengthen and reclaim the successful CHIPS program, a brainchild of his first administration that has transformed Texas and our national security posture.
We were proud to lead the Chips for America Act, which was signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. This legislation created programs to bring the production of advanced semiconductors back to American soil after decades of decline. In 2022, we successfully secured funding for the programs in the larger CHIPS & Science Act. Since then, Texas cities, colleges, and universities and companies, including Texas Instruments, Samsung, GlobalWafers, X Fab, IntelliEPI and Sumika, along with thousands of Texas workers, have seen immense benefits.
The economic rewards from this law were so profound that the Texas Legislature followed suit. In 2023, Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Texas CHIPS Act, which builds on the law to further invest in semiconductor manufacturing capacity and expertise in the Lone Star State. This state law established the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium (TSIC) and the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF), important, complementary programs that incentivize Texas investment in the semiconductor industry. A recent study indicates the technology industry contributes more than $469 billion to the Texas economy. Today, Texas has the second largest semiconductor workforce in the nation totaling more than 42,000 Texans with more to come thanks to our joint efforts.
As we see Texas companies, workers and communities benefit from this program, it would be a mistake to forget the impetus for this critical initiative. The vision for these successful programs originated in President Trump’s White House, and it was President Trump’s own national security team that first identified semiconductor chips as a vulnerability in American supply chains. Approximately 92% of the most advanced semiconductors are currently manufactured in Taiwan. Back in 1990, the United States produced nearly 40% of the world’s semiconductors. But by 2021, this figure decreased to 12%, and in 2024, our share represented only 8%. As demand for electronic goods dramatically increased during the pandemic, our supply chain vulnerabilities became more apparent.
In response to the threat of the Chinese Communist Party, and to address vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains, the first Trump administration asked Congress to address the chips issue with legislation and we took up this mantle. As part of this effort, President Trump’s team successfully persuaded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to bring their major operations back to the U.S.
Four years later, with President Trump back in the White House and with Republicans in control of Congress, we have an opportunity to refocus the implementation of CHIPS and reclaim rightful credit for its successes. President Biden prioritized partisanship at every turn at the expense of national security during the law’s implementation, from divisive DEI requirements for grant recipients to endless red tape on environmental impact requirements for new projects. The Trump administration can roll back criteria for grant recipients and reprioritize funding for the best and most efficient manufacturing facilities, many of which are in Texas. In addition, by streamlining the stringent regulatory requirements on new projects, America will be better positioned to increase our production capacity for semiconductors at an even faster speed, making sure this critical supply chain is not subject to the whims of our adversaries overseas.
We cannot let this program that has been so revolutionary for Texas job creators fall by the wayside. While President Biden’s misguided approach to implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act fell short of everything the law could be, we are optimistic that with President Trump back at the helm, Republicans can Make America Great Again by continuing to strengthen our investments in CHIPS.
By reclaiming CHIPS, President Trump has an opportunity to fulfill a core campaign promise: increase domestic manufacturing and decrease our reliance on China. By continuing to prioritize domestic manufacturing of semiconductors, we can increase manufacturing jobs in the United States and strengthen America’s edge in our strategic competition with China.