The U.S. was awakened by the pandemic to the gaping holes in its supply chains for crucial medical supplies and electronics. One of the most significant was semiconductors, the pieces of silicon that hold millions of tiny transistors that are needed in everything from automobiles to toys.
The Chips and Science Act devotes $52 billion to begin to remedy a decades-long trend of U.S. production drifting away to lower cost regions, mostly to Asia and especially to China. The rebuilding of that supply chain and manufacturing capacity will take years, but it will come to naught unless all the components, even the low-margin ones, have a presence in the Americas, if not the U.S.
The production of semiconductors is arguably the most globalized industry, and the small size and higher value of chips make them ideal for ferrying around the globe by aircraft. The ability to move materials and components at a negligible cost and time of transport made them an early candidate for moving manufacturing overseas.
