Do Biden's Manufacturing Claims Pass Fact Checks?
President Biden said in his second State of the Union address that companies have committed to more than $300 billion in American manufacturing investments over the next few years.
February 8, 2023
U.S. companies have committed to more than $300 billion in investment in American manufacturing over the next few years, President Biden said Tuesday during his second State of the Union address.
The president also said the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act will produce hundreds of thousands of new jobs through these companies' investments in American manufacturing.
The claim regarding American manufacturing investments during Biden's presidency passed CNN fact checks of the State of the Union speech. CNN said the White House provided a list of publicly announced investments, and that most of the American manufacturing investments announced to date have been investments in semiconductor facilities.
This is good news for companies like Marlborough, MA-based Hologic, Waltham, MA-based Vicarious Surgical, and countless other medtech companies that rely on semiconductor chips to make their devices.
This time last year, Hologic saw delivery timelines for its mammography systems lengthen due to the chip shortage, pushing about $200 million of revenue out of fiscal 2022. The company proactively began to extend lead times of new units to preserve inventory and maintain service continuity for mammography systems already in the field.
Surgical robotics company Vicarious Surgical also raised concerns last year about the semiconductor chip shortage. CEO Adam Sachs said in August that if the shortage continues, it could present a risk to the company's development timeline. Vicarious is developing a system that combines human-like arms with virtual reality technology. The robotic system is being developed for minimally invasive abdominal surgery.
One of the biggest wins for medtech in 2022 was the CHIPS and Science Act (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act) Biden signed into law in August, opening access to more than $50 billion in research and American manufacturing of semiconductor chips. The bill is intended to help the country regain a leading position in chip manufacturing by bringing more facilities back to the United States, which will help lower costs and prevent supply disruptions.
The law will invest $39 billion over five years to expand American manufacturing, providing companies incentives to build, expand, and modernize facilities and equipment. Additionally, it creates a new 25% tax credit for companies that invest in semiconductor manufacturing equipment or the construction of American manufacturing facilities. However, private companies that receive financial assistance will be restricted from expanding certain chip manufacturing in China for 10 years.
By September 9, Biden was visiting a groundbreaking (pictured below) of a new semiconductor chip manufacturing plant in Ohio that Intel is building with the help of the new law. He referenced that investment during his State of the Union address Tuesday.
"Outside of Columbus, Ohio, Intel is building semiconductor factories on a thousand acres — a literal field of dreams," the president said. "That’ll create 10,000 jobs. Seven thousand construction jobs. Three thousand jobs once the factories are finished. Jobs paying $130,000 a year, and many don’t require a college degree."
Biden said America used to make nearly 40% of the world’s semiconductor chips.
"But in the last few decades, we lost our edge and we’re down to producing only 10%," he said. "We all saw what happened during the pandemic when chip factories overseas shut down."
Biden said 800,000 American manufacturing jobs have already been created under his presidency, even without the CHIPS law.
"We’re making sure the supply chain for America begins in America," he said.
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