A close-up of the Infineon XMC 4700 microcontroller kit is portrayed in an exhibition during the annual seminar meeting of the German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon in Munich, February 21, 2019.
Andreas Gebert | Reuters
White House economic and national security officials have stepped up efforts to help the U.S. auto industry combat the growing scarcity of semiconductor chips that has forced production cuts worldwide, a White House spokeswoman said.
President Joe Biden’s administration held meetings with automotive companies and suppliers to identify bottlenecks and urged companies to work cooperatively to address the shortage, the spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
The White House also instructed U.S. embassies to identify how foreign countries and chip-making companies can help resolve the global shortage and work with international partners and allies, urging them to deal with the current shortage.
The effort includes expanding to Taiwan, home of leading chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), to find ways to resolve the shortage.
In a February 17 letter, Biden’s chief economic adviser, Brian Deese, thanked Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Wang Mei-hua, for working to help resolve the shortages in coordination with the island’s manufacturers.
Along with Deese, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is involved in the effort, as are other senior advisers.
This month, US officials held a meeting with Wang at which the United States thanked Taiwan for helping to resolve the shortage of automotive chips, she said.
The White House spokeswoman said the authorities recognize that steps must be taken to prevent future shortages, which is why the government is launching a comprehensive review of critical supply chains to identify vulnerabilities and take steps to stimulate increased domestic production. in the United States.
General Motors said on February 9 that the global chip shortage could cut its 2021 profits by up to $ 2 billion and extend production cuts at three North American factories. The company also said it would partially build and then finish assembling vehicles at two other factories because of the lack of chips.
The second American automaker, Ford Motor, warned this month that the lack of chips could lead to a 10% to 20% loss in first quarter production, resulting in a potential impact on operating profit of $ 1 billion to $ 2 , 5 billion. She said she lost part of the production of her best-selling F-150 pickup.
A shortage of automotive chips could affect nearly 1 million units of global light vehicle production in the first quarter, data company IHS Markit said on Tuesday, adding that it still expects most of the volume to be recovered in the remainder of 2021 .
In a January 19 letter to Deese first reported by Reuters, the United Auto Workers union and automotive trade groups asked the Biden government to consider “urging major silicon wafer foundries to increase automotive grade wafer production. “.
The lack of chips has affected many other automakers, including Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Renault, Subaru, Nissan Motor, Honda Motor and Mazda Motor.