White House officials are meeting with executives from around 20 major companies on Monday to discuss global semiconductor shortages that have hurt the auto industry and tech companies.
A group in the U.S. auto industry this week asked the government for help in solving the problem and warned that a global semiconductor shortage could hamper the production of 1.28 million cars this year, in addition to stop production for another six months.
Over the weekend, General Motors canceled other pickup truck shifts at two factories in the United States
“Trying to manage supply chains in times of crisis results in critical vulnerabilities to national security,” Sullivan said in a statement.
Automakers have been hit particularly hard by the global chip shortage, after many auto orders were canceled when factories were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
And when they were ready to resume production, automakers found that chipmakers were busy fulfilling orders from the consumer electronics industry, which saw demand for high-end devices. – both for work and play – grow as people grew older. They spent more time at home.
Broadband internet, mobile phone and cable TV companies are also facing delays in receiving “network switches, routers and servers … delays associated with semiconductor shortages will impact hundreds. million dollars for the broadband and cable television industry this year, ”an industry group said this week.
President Joe Biden wants to spend at least $ 100 billion to boost US semiconductor production and fund investments to support the production of essential goods. But officials said this funding would not meet short-term chip needs.