Commentary
In August, President Joe Biden signed into effect a bipartisan bill aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness with China. Designed to create more chip factories, the bill received a great deal of praise—for a good reason. Dubbed the Chips and Science Act, it pledged tens of billions of dollars for U.S. companies producing computer chips. Moreover, certain chips and manufacturing equipment are now forbidden from being exported to China.
Victory for the United States, some will say. Not so fast. There’s just one problem—and it’s a big one. The Netherlands, home to one of the most important chip manufacturers in the world, appears to care very little about the Chips and Science Act. What it does appear to care about, however, is helping China achieve semiconductor superiority over the United States….