Gina Raimondo says we ‘innovate more than China’ amid chip war

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo proudly highlighted American industry’s progress in semiconductor manufacturing on Sunday, declaring that the U.S. has “out-innovated” China as the two nations struggle to advance manufacturing of their homegrown technology.

Semiconductor manufacturing has been a major domestic policy priority for President Biden, with Raimondo at the helm. Biden has repeatedly championed the CHIPS Act, which invested billions in domestic semiconductor production, as an economic and national security victory during his re-election campaign.

“If we think about national security today in 2024, it’s not just about tanks and missiles; It’s technology. They are semiconductors. It’s AI. They are drones. And the Department of Commerce is at the center of technology,” Raimondo said on a CBS. “60 Minutes” Interview with Lesley Stahl on Sunday.

She warned that relying on China for semiconductor manufacturing puts critical American industries at risk and noted that the administration has made progress toward bringing that manufacturing to the United States.

“We want to trade the vast majority of goods and services with China. But in technologies that affect our national security, no,” she said. “They also go into nuclear weapons and surveillance systems. And we know they want these chips and our sophisticated technology to advance their military.”

Raimondo boasted that the best semiconductors currently manufactured in China, by industry giant Huawei, are now substantially behind their best American counterparts.

“What this tells me is that the export controls are working because this chip is not that good,” she said of the Chinese example. “It’s years behind what we have in the United States.”

“We have the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world. Not China,” she continued. We innovate more than China.”

Much of the semiconductor production is in Taiwan, which is constantly under threat from Chinese invasion. Raimondo said the situation makes the US “vulnerable.”

The Biden administration announced dozens of billions of dollars in investments for new semiconductor factories in Arizona, Texas, New York and elsewhere. Raimondo predicted that investments could generate up to half a million jobs by 2030.

“We allowed the manufacturing industry in this country to wither in search of cheaper labor in Asia, cheaper capital in Asia, and here we are,” she said. “We only pursue profit at the expense of national security.”