Law360 Quotes Clete Willems on CHIPS Act Passage and Components
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Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems was quoted by Law360 for its article “CHIPS Act Marks One Step In A Long Race With China.” The article discusses how the $52 billion dollar CHIPS Act is viewed as only one step in the U.S.’s trade war with China.
Willems, who served in the Trump White House as Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economics, said of the bill’s passage, “It's an important step, but in and of itself, it's not enough. This will help with one part of the supply chain but not necessarily the whole supply chain.”
He noted that, while the financial benefits in the bill will help bring semiconductor production back to the U.S., regulatory work further up the supply chain is also necessary in order to raise production sustainably.
On the topic of the bill’s “guardrail provision,” which requires, for at least a 10-year period, semiconductor foundries not to make significant transactions that could help China grow its chipmaking capacity, Willems characterized this provision as “revolutionary” and said that a precedent is being set therein.
Relatedly, on the topic of mandatory notification to the Commerce Department by semiconductor manufacturers that benefit from CHIPS Act funds and want to invest in China, Willems said, “Basically, you have now adopted a quasi-outbound investment screening mechanism for chips companies, and depending on how this works in practice, I think that there will be a lot of interest in expanding into other sectors.”