WASHINGTON — The Biden-Harris administration on Tuesday announced plans to provide Wolfspeed with up to $750 million in direct financing, with the money supporting its new silicon carbide plant in North Carolina, which makes the wafers used in advanced computer chips, and its Marcy plant, New York.
Wolfspeed’s use of silicon carbide allows the computer chips used in electric vehicles and other advanced technologies to be more efficient. The North Carolina-based company’s two projects will create an estimated 2,000 manufacturing jobs as part of a more than $6 billion expansion plan.
“Artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and clean energy are all technologies that will define the 21st century, and thanks to proposed investments in companies like Wolfspeed, the Biden-Harris administration is taking a meaningful step toward reinvigorating U.S. manufacturing the chips that underlie this. important technologies,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.
The new Wolfspeed facility in Siler City would be a crucial symbol in this year’s electionsas it opened earlier this year in a swing state county undergoing rapid economic expansion, thanks in large part to incentives from the Biden-Harris administration.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, is telling voters that the government’s mix of stimulus is increasing factory work, while former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, says the threat of broad tariffs will lead to overseas factories will move in the future. United States.
In 2023, President Joe Biden spoke at Wolfspeed to promote his economic agenda, saying it would help the United States defeat China. Trump narrowly won North Carolina in the 2020 presidential election and has talked about bringing back the state’s furniture manufacturing sector.
The Biden-Harris administration’s argument is that the government support encourages additional private investment, a case that appears to apply to Wolfspeed.
In addition to the government subsidy, there is a group of investment funds led by Apollo, The Baupost Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Capital Group plan to provide an additional $750 million to Wolfspeed, the company said. Wolfspeed also expects to receive $1 billion from an Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit, meaning the company will have access to $2.5 billion in total.
Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe told The Associated Press that the United States currently produces 70% of the world’s silicon carbide – and that the investments will help the country maintain its lead as China steps up efforts in the sector.
Lowe said “we are very pleased with this grant” and that Department of Commerce staff are awarding funds from the CHIPS and Science Act 2022 was ‘great’.