Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is making a push to include provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would increase U.S. microchip production amid persistent chip shortages around the world. Slowed business activity during the height of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic caused a backlog of demand for chips to build up, leading to shortages in industries ranging from video game consoles to automobiles. In the past, the U.S. developed and manufactured around a third of all microchips, 37 percent in 1990 according to a report by the Semiconductor Energy Association (pdf). As U.S. manufacturing jobs and plants began to be shipped overseas, that number has declined dramatically: In 2021, the United States only produced around a tenth, 12 percent, of the world’s microchips. Today, most chips are produced in Southeast Asia, with Taiwan and Japan being some of the largest producers of microchips. However, these …