Chairman Bilirakis Delivers Opening Statement at Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Hearing on the Semiconductor Ecosystem and Supply Chain
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing on the semiconductor ecosystem and supply chain.
Subcommittee Chairman Bilirakis’s opening statement as prepared for delivery:
“From consumer devices and household items to AI applications, semiconductors, or chips, are critical components to today’s society and are essential to our national and economic security. Semiconductors come in many forms: logic and memory, leading-edge and legacy—each serving distinct and indispensable functions across the economy.
“For decades the U.S. has dominated the world stage of semiconductors - leading in areas such as global revenue, manufacturing capacity, and semiconductor design, to name a few. But that leadership is no longer guaranteed. American semiconductor manufacturing capacity has declined over 25 percent since 1990. Our adversaries, particularly China, are actively seeking to unseat us from global leadership and disrupt our supply chains.
“Through my work on the Energy and Commerce and the Select Committee on China, I’ve seen firsthand the strengths and strategic vulnerabilities of the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem that defines our strategic competition with China. While the U.S. remains a leader in semiconductor design, China is rapidly scaling its own capabilities, backed by significant state subsidies, and maintains a dominant position in the rare earth materials critical to chip production.
“At the same time, demand for semiconductors is being transformed by artificial intelligence. AI applications, such as use in data centers, are among the most critical use cases of semiconductors in today’s society. AI is the leading use case for semiconductors, and the AI surge is responsible for over half of total semiconductor revenue—potentially reaching 500 billion dollars this year, and 1 trillion dollars by 2030. AI is a critical driver of economic growth—ceding global leadership or leaving our semiconductor supply chains vulnerable to disruption at the hands of China could be catastrophic for U.S. leadership in AI.
“The good news is that we have not ignored these emerging threats. Between Congressional and Executive action, including actions in this Committee, there have been a panoply of actions to strengthen U.S. global semiconductor leadership. This hearing will also examine those solutions and consider what other actions may be needed.”
