SCHUMER ANNOUNCES $117 MILLION FOR GLOBALFOUNDRIES TO PARTNER WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO SECURE SEMICONDUCTOR SUPPLY CHAIN; SENATOR SAYS DOD AGREEMENT ENSURES CHIPS CRITICAL TO AMERICA’S DEFENSE WILL CONTINUE TO BE MADE IN CAPITAL REGION, BOLSTERING DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING & ENSURING UPSTATE NY CONTINUES TO LEAD THE MICROCHIP INDUSTRY

New Partnership Between GlobalFoundries & U.S. DoD Will Provide Strategic Supply Of U.S.-Made And Secure Semiconductors For The Nation’s Military And Most Sensitive Applications

Senator Delivers Funding To Make Future Of National Security Systems In Upstate New York; Funding Will Boost The Capital Region Economy And Bolster National Security

Schumer: GlobalFoundries & Capital Region Continue To Lead America In Chip Manufacturing

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today announced a $117 million Defense Production Act Title III agreement between GlobalFoundries and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to provide a strategic supply of U.S.-made semiconductors that are critical to national security systems. The senator said that these chips will be used in some of the nation’s most sensitive defense and aerospace applications and will be made in the Capital Region at GlobalFoundries’ Fab 8 facility in Malta, NY.

“This $117 million federal agreement between GlobalFoundries and the Department of Defense taps into Upstate New York’s thriving semiconductor industry to provide a secure supply of the microchips we need for national security and to lead in critical technology,” said Senator Schumer. “Now more than ever, we must invest in building domestic supply chains of semiconductors and other critical technology to ensure our military has access to secure, reliable chips. That’s why I have fought tooth and nail to provide an historic $52 billion in federal investment to expand domestic semiconductor manufacturing and R&D as part of my U.S. Innovation and Competition Act.  Upstate New York is primed to tap this investment for growth at GlobalFoundries and other chip companies to supercharge domestic manufacturing and power national security.”

“GF is proud to be a longtime supplier to the U.S. Government, and we remain deeply committed to meeting the semiconductor technology needs of the Department of Defense, as well as the technologies so critical to our national security,” said GlobalFoundries CEO Tom Caulfield. “The strong public-private partnership demonstrated with this new supply and tech transfer agreement is an excellent example of the impact federal collaboration and investment in semiconductor manufacturing can have on strengthening domestic supply chains. Our partnership boosts the national economy, while also securing a strategic and reliable supply of chips needed by the U.S. government for aerospace, defense, and other mission-critical applications.”

Schumer explained that the United States’ position as the unequivocal global leader in innovation is under pressure from other countries, like China, and that U.S. competitiveness, supply chains, and national security are being threatened by decades of underinvestment in R&D and manufacturing. Schumer noted that even though the U.S. revolutionized the semiconductor industry and invented much of the key technology used to this day, competitors in Asia, especially China, have made huge investments into their microelectronics industries in recent years to challenge U.S. leadership. In fact, Schumer pointed out that the U.S. had 37% of the world’s share of chip manufacturing in 1990 but that share of production has eroded to 12% today. Schumer said that today’s announcement of the new strategic supply chain partnership between GlobalFoundries and DoD directly addresses these concerns and would help safeguard America’s critical infrastructure from defense to aerospace by building domestic capacity to provide a supply of chips needed for these applications. This funding comes on the heels of Schumer delivering $25 million in federal funding for a partnership between GlobalFoundries & PsiQuantum to expand R&D in the Capital Region and at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York to manufacture and test photonic quantum computing technology integral to national security efforts. 

Senator Schumer has a long history of fighting to advance semiconductor manufacturing and R&D in Upstate New York. In June 2020, Schumer introduced his bipartisan American Foundries Act to authorize new federal incentives for expanding domestic semiconductor manufacturing and R&D. Schumer successfully added this bill as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passing the new federal semiconductor incentives into law in December 2020. In June 2021, Schumer then successfully passed through the Senate the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), legislation he introduced that combined his Endless Frontier Act to make a significant investment in research, development, manufacturing and innovation, other bipartisan competitiveness bills, and $52 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations to implement the semiconductor-related manufacturing and R&D programs the senator authorized in the NDAA. Schumer’s legislation has already spurred chip industry investment in the U.S., including GlobalFoundries’ announcement last year that Schumer joined, along with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo following his invitation, that the company will be building a second chip fab in Malta, focused primarily on auto and military chip production, creating thousands of construction and permanent jobs, on top of the 3,000 employees that GlobalFoundries already employs in Malta. Schumer also brought Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves to the Capital Region earlier this year so he could see first-hand all that Upstate New York has to offer to rebuild American semiconductor manufacturing, including Albany Nanotech Complex’s unique assets and experience that positions New York to do next generation chip development and be a major hub of the National Semiconductor Technology Center, which would be funded by Schumer’s USICA legislation. 

The House passed its companion legislation to USICA, the America COMPETES Act, this past January. Last month, Senator Schumer took an important step to the bill advancing to final passage, announcing Conferees to the Conference Committee to reconcile differences between the Senate- and House-passed bills in order to send final legislation to the President to sign into law.

###