On-Air Now
On-Air Now
Listen Live

Gary Peters and Debbie Dingell Meet US Commerce Secretary to Discuss Michigan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Photo: Insung Jeon / Getty

DETROIT, November 30, 2021 ~ Monday, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and Senator Gary Peters hosted US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimando and other industry partners in Taylor for a roundtable discussion about the semiconductor chip shortage.

The discussion focused on the shortage’s impact on Michigan auto workers, and how strong funding and collaboration is needed to boost the domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips.

Understand that this is going to be a long-term problem,” said Senator Peters to 760 WJR’s Kevin Dietz. “Chips are a part of everyday products, certainly they are in our automobiles, and we’re feeling the impact of the chip shortage now, in vehicles that are sitting idle in the parking lots all completely built but just waiting for chips before they can be sent out to dealers.”


November 30, 2021 ~ Senator Gary Peters talks with Kevin Dietz about the efforts to alleviate the microchip shortage in Michigan.

We are overly dependent on chip production from overseas producers. We have seen this production being shipped offshore for far too many years, and now we are paying the price.”

Over the summer, Congresswoman Dingell introduced legislation to increase incentives to invest in facilities and equipment to domestically manufacture critical chip components. In June 2021, the US Senate advanced the US Innovation and Competition Act, a comprehensive package to help mitigate this crisis, which includes $52 billion for domestic semiconductor production.

A provision led by Senators Peters and Debbie Stabenow was also included to provide incentives to increase manufacturing of these components.

The United States was once a leader in the production of semiconductor chips, which power our smartphones, medical equipment, and automobiles. But today, we account for only 12 percent of global production and produce zero percent of the most advanced chips,” said Secretary Raimondo. “It is imperative that we reinvest in this critical industry and ensure that more chips are made here at home.”

Doing so will not only make us more competitive on the world stage but will translate into more good-paying jobs for Detroit, the state of Michigan, and the entire country.”

WJR TOP STORIES: