President Donald Trump says lawmakers should “get rid” of a $52 billion program providing subsidies to Micron and other semiconductor investments in New York and across the nation.
Trump said during his joint address to Congress on Tuesday night that companies will come without assistance to avoid the tariffs he has begun imposing on foreign goods.
“We’re not giving them any money. Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars. And it doesn't mean a thing,” Trump said of the CHIPS and Science Act, which passed Congress in 2022 with bipartisan support.
If the Republican-controlled chambers do follow through on Trump’s critique of President Biden’s landmark legislation, New York could stand to lose key projects and investments across the state. The CHIPS Act incentivizes semiconductor manufacturing and microchip supply chain investments across the United States as a way to reduce America’s reliance on other countries like China.
In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Gov. Kathy Hochul said repealing the CHIPS and Science Act would risk 50,000 jobs and $100 billion worth of investments in Central New York, cutting vital growth to the economy and New York’s burgeoning technology industry.
The cost of living is too damn high in New York and across America, yet President Trump’s address to Congress failed to offer a single meaningful solution to the affordability crisis.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) March 5, 2025
I’m going to keep fighting to put money back in New Yorkers' pockets.
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/rF6z6euotW
Micron Technology is expecting $6.1 billion in federal grants from the program to offset expenses for the $100 billion campus it is building outside of Syracuse, and to expand operations in Idaho. GlobalFoundaries has been promised $1.5 billion for a second factory it plans to build in Saratoga County, and to modernize a facility in Vermont. The Albany NanoTech Complex was recently designated one of three National Semiconductor Technology Centers and awarded $825 million. And an I-90 tech hub received $40 million in CHIPS funding for investments in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo to focus on workforce training, supply chain gaps and assisting startups.
Other CHIPS funding includes $18 million or Edwards Vacuum to build a manufacturing facility for the semiconductor industry at the Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park in Genesee County, $32 million for Corning to boost production in the North Country and $44 million for JMA Wireless to upgrade 5G manufacturing facilities in Syracuse.
“He said he wants to cut it,” Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said Wednesday during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Schumer was a key architect of the CHIPS Act. “I don't even know why he wants to cut it.
“They say they want to bring chip manufacturing back to the United States,” Schumer continued. “They say they want good paying jobs in lots of areas that don't have them. We're so proud of the big chip fabs that are going up across upstate New York and Syracuse and Albany and in between Buffalo and Rochester. Why would he do that?”
Trump touted promised investments from Apple and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TMSC, as evidence that his “America First” policies are working. Apple’s investment is closely tied to TSMC, which reportedly has received more than $11 billion in grants and loans through CHIPs for the $65 billion factory it is building in Phoenix.
The administration reportedly fired 40 federal employees whose job it was to implement the CHIPs Act – or roughly a third of the office staff.
“They take our money, and they don't spend it,” Trump said, though not specifying any particular company. "All that was important to them was they didn't want to pay the tariffs, so they came in the building and many other companies are coming. We have to give them money. We just want to protect our businesses and our people. And they will come because they won't have to pay tariffs if they build in America. So it's very amazing. You should get rid of the CHIP Act and whatever is left over, Mr. Speaker. You should use it to reduce debt – or any other reason you want to.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, who voted against the legislation, smiled and nodded, as the Republican members of Congress applauded.
Includes reporting by Jeongyoon Han with the New York Public News Network.
