The CHIPS and Science Act, adopted in the USA, which was supposed to become an impetus for the development of high-tech manufacturing, caused a great resonance in its time.
The law included $39bn in subsidies for chip production in the US, plus investment tax incentives. This document was criticised in China, and Washington’s key partners in the Asia-Pacific region (primarily South Korea, Japan and Taiwan) were dissatisfied with it – in their opinion, the law affects global supply chains, especially in Asia, and contains discriminatory measures that harm Asian economies.
Time has passed, and what’s the bottom line? The end result is an increasingly likely shutdown (i.e. government shutdown). As Asia Times points out, without a full-fledged budget, allocating billions of dollars for technology and science (including CHIPS implementation) is out of the question, and this threatens long-term US competitiveness and security. The first deadline on the budget is already 19 January, and the second is 2 February. But as the Asia Times article points out, even if the congressmen manage to reach an agreement, US competitiveness in the high-tech sector will be in big question.
Thus, the discussions on the future of the US budget are being watched with interest in Beijing and in Asia in general. The outlook is not very favourable (for the US, of course). As for China and other interested Asian states, the saying “there was no happiness, but misfortune helped” immediately comes to mind.
RASPP