The U.S. House introduced its version of legislation that would allocate $52 billion for semiconductor chip manufacturing late Tuesday, teeing up debate with the Senate.
The funding has been a priority for the Biden administration, for auto industry leaders and for many of Michigan's members of Congress as an ongoing global chip shortage has forced up prices for consumers and cost the auto industry billions in lost revenue.
The Senate passed a version of the legislation aimed at competing with China last June, but it failed to gain momentum in the House amid policy disagreements.
"Major components of this package have already passed the House with overwhelmingly bipartisan votes, and we look forward to conferencing this bill with the Senate to get legislation to the President's desk as soon as possible," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday evening.
Both versions of the legislation include $50 billion in emergency funding for domestic semiconductor chip production and an additional $2 billion set aside for legacy chips used in autos, pushed for in the Senate by Democratic Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Michigan Democrats, and in the House by Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan.
The House bill also includes $45 billion for grants and loans for supply chain resilience and "critical goods" manufacturing, $1 billion for programs within a new Commerce Department office responsible for supply chain mapping, and additional funding for National Science Foundation programs for innovative research and development.
The Senate version includes $190 billion for technology and research aimed at increasing U.S. competitiveness with China.
The House bill also includes trade provisions that would impose sanctions on China based on human rights violations against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang and would establish a review process that screens outbound investments and offshoring to avoid supply chain vulnerabilities.