Elizabeth Economy is a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, an expert on Chinese politics and foreign policy, and a former senior adviser for China at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Her latest book is The World According to China. This interview first appeared on SCMP Plus. For more interviews in our Open Questions series, click here.
President Joe Biden’s administration has rolled out semiconductor policies such as the Chip and Science Act, expanded export controls and formed new partnerships. How effective was this strategy?
The Chip and Science Act will ensure that the United States is not overly dependent on one source, namely Taiwan, for such critical technology, and that the United States can remain competitive not only as an innovator but also as a nation. is intended to guarantee. Manufacturer. Therefore, the heart of the Chips and Science Act is to bring advanced manufacturing back to the United States and ensure U.S. competitiveness and supply chain resiliency.
The U.S. government invests US$39 billion in manufacturing and another US$13 billion in research and development, while the Chip and Science Act brings private investment in manufacturing to more than US$400 billion. We’re moving at an incredibly aggressive pace and I’d say it’s been pretty successful so far.
When it comes to export controls, they actually target chips and equipment that the United States determines could be used for military purposes that undermine U.S. national security.
I don’t think a complete study of the effectiveness of export controls has been done yet. My preliminary assessment, based on what I’ve read, is that export controls have had mixed success. However, I think more work needs to be done to assess the actual impact and ramifications of export controls.
US Senate passes Chip and Science Act to compete with China’s semiconductor industry
So maybe it’s a little too early to say that?
