A close-up of an Infineon XMC 4700 microcontroller kit is presented at an exhibition during the German semiconductor manufacturer’s annual Infineon shareholders meeting in Munich on February 21, 2019.
Andreas Gebert | Reuters
Top White House economic and national security officials have stepped up efforts to help the U.S. auto industry fight a growing shortage of semiconductor chips that has forced reduced production worldwide, a White House spokeswoman said. .
President Joe Biden’s administration has held meetings with companies and car suppliers to identify safety points and urged companies to work cooperatively to address the deficit, the spokesman said Wednesday.
The White House also called on US embassies to identify how foreign chip-producing countries and companies can help address the global deficit and work with international partners and allies, urging them to address the current shortcoming.
The effort includes expanding to Taiwan, home of key chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), to find ways to address the shortcoming.
In a February 17 letter, Biden’s top economic adviser, Brian Deese, thanked Taiwan’s economic minister Wang Mei-hua for working to help resolve the deficit in coordination with the island’s producers.
Along with Deese, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is involved in the effort, as are other senior aides.
This month, US officials held a meeting with Wang, in which the United States thanked Taiwan for help solving the car chip shortage, she said.
The White House spokesman said officials recognize that steps must be taken to avoid future shortages, which is why the administration is launching a comprehensive review of critical supply chains to identify vulnerabilities and take steps such as boosting US domestic production.
General Motors said on Feb. 9 that the global shortage of chips could shave up to $ 2 billion in profits in 2021 and extend production cuts to three factories in North America. He also said he would partially build and later complete the assembly of vehicles at two other factories due to a lack of chips.
Nr. 2, US carmaker 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 gains from 1 to 2.5 billions of dollars. He said he lost some of the production of his best-selling F-150 truck.
A shortage of car chips could affect nearly 1 million units of global light vehicle production in the first quarter, data firm IHS Markit said on Tuesday, adding that it still expects to recover most of its volume in the rest of 2021 .
In a January 19 letter to Deese, first reported by Reuters, the United Auto Workers union and car trading groups called on the Biden administration to consider “urging major foundries of silicon wafers to increase production of quality wafers.” auto”.
The lack of chips has affected many other carmakers, including Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Renault, Subaru, Nissan Motor, Honda Motor and Mazda Motor.