When the Microchips Are Down

Why It Matters

Council on Foreign Relations

News

4.2 • 876 Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2021

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Silicon chips are in almost all electronics, and access to them can make or break a country’s economic future. Their production relies on complex supply chains, and during the pandemic, the world learned just how fragile these supply chains are. Many countries, including the United States and China, are investing billions of dollars to develop the capacity to produce chips domestically, and some analysts see chip-related conflict on the horizon. Featured Guests: Don Clark (Freelance Contributor, New York Times) Rebecca Heilweil (Reporter, Vox) Ajit Manocha (President and CEO, SEMI) David Sacks (Research Fellow) For a transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/when-microchips-are-down

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the most severe shortage of semiconductors in years.
0:08.4	The US Senate passed a bill that would give manufacturers more incentives to make semiconductor chips.
0:14.4	Taiwan wants to make sure that it keeps its leading position in the semiconductor industry.
0:19.2	The sector has been caught up in the US-China trade tensions.
0:22.1	We're in competition with China and other countries
0:24.6	to win the 21st century.
0:26.4	We're at a great inflection point in history.
0:29.7	Right now you're hearing my voice
0:31.6	because of a silicon chip.
0:34.0	Hundreds of them, in fact.
0:35.7	You may know them by other terms like microchip or semiconductor.
0:40.0	As the world has digitized, chips have become the lifeblood of innovation and the global economy.
0:46.0	They're in almost everything we use.
0:48.4	Access to chips can make or break a country's economic future. And as shortages pile up,
0:54.4	countries are scrambling to figure out how to ensure their access.
0:58.6	At the heart of the story is one company,
1:01.2	TSMC, which manufactures chips that are found in everything from iPhones to
1:06.5	to fighter jets. No other company can do what they do, and as a result the world depends on them.
1:13.0	But T-S-M-C is located on the island of Taiwan,
1:16.0	and that puts it at the center of dangerous tensions
1:19.0	between China and the United States.
1:21.0	I'm Gabriel Sierra, and this is why it matters. I'm Gabriel Sierra and this is why it matters.
	...

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