Author: mangakiko

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – President Joe Biden signed a $280 billion bipartisan bill to boost domestic high-tech manufacturing, part of his administration’s push to boost US competitiveness over China. And one company – Micron – immediately announced plans to invest $40 billion in new US chip facilities.

However, where the plant will be built remains unknown.

“Micron is finalizing its specific US expansion plans and will share additional details in the coming weeks,” the company said in its announcement.

Could North Carolina be on the list? Or might the state land a new plant from Durham-based Wolfspeed?

“All of this is up in the air. Everyone is looking for some money. My opinion is that New York(in spite of the fact that other locations are better suited for the industry), will continue to have momentum as will Ohio and other states that have been much more welcoming and knowledgeable of the industry,” an industry source who requested he not be identified told WRAL TechWire. “Only time will tell. ”

Interestingly, Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe was at the White House for the signing ceremony.

Wolfspeed (formerly known as Cree) is reportedly considering plans to expand its chip manufacturing. And a plant worth as much as $4 billion in Chatham County has been speculated about in the media.

The North Carolina Economic Investment Committee met on Tuesday but no economic development news was announced.

Will ‘fat and happy’ NC land a new chip factory? An insider says ‘possibly’

Might Wolfspeed pick its home state?

“Possible, but New York and numerous other states are working hard to lure them as well. to grow there as are other places,” an industry source tells WRAL TechWire. “We’ll see.”

The Rose Garden signing ceremony included lawmakers, union officials, local politicians and business leaders, the White House said, as the president looks to highlight a new law that will incentivize investments in the American semiconductor industry in an effort to ease US reliance on overseas supply chains for critical, cutting-edge goods.

NC looks to lure chip maker, 1,800 jobs, to Chatham County in new budget proposal

“We are going to invest it in America,” Biden said Friday. “We’re going to make it in America. We’re going to win the economic competition of the 21st century in America.”

The CHIPS and Science Act will subsidize US-made semiconductor chips, which are used to make cars, household appliances and computers. There has been a shortage of semiconductor chips in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and global supply chain disruptions.

The White House said Micron is announcing a $40 billion plan to boost domestic manufacturing of memory chips, and Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries are announcing a $4.2 billion expansion of an upstate New York chip plant.

The Idaho Statesman reported on Friday that an executive for Micron was considering several locations for a new $40 billion plant.

No mention of Wolfspeed was made in The Associated Press report.

Wolfspeed also is shopping even as it opens a new plant in New York state.

According to a state budget proposal, North Carolina appears to be taking aim, again, at luring a semiconductor chip manufacturer to Chatham County.

The description does not name the manufacturer, but would allocate the “sum of one hundred twelve million five hundred thousand dollars” to secure a commitment from a company with “a qualifying project in Chatham County.”

Such a project would be one that would receive a Job Development Investment Grant, JDIG, from the state’s Economic Investment Committee that would have a minimum job creation target of 1,800 eligible positions and an investment of at least $4.8 billion in private funds.

Media reports have speculated that Durham-based Wolfspeed could pick the Chatham County site for a new factory.

Vietnam-based car manufacturer VinFast recently selected Chatham County for a new car plant.

The Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.

Even as one semiconductor firm crosses NC off list, others may remain interested, exec says

Washington— A federal appeals court in Washington ruled Tuesday that the House Ways and Means Committee can obtain several years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, a victory for House Democrats in their yearslong battle to obtain the records.

The unanimous three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the House Democrats, who initially sought five years of federal income tax returns from Trump and several of his business entities in 2019 while he was president.

Citing a renewed request for the tax information in 2021 from Rep. Richard Neal, chairman of the Ways and Means panel, after the change in presidential administrations, Senior Circuit Judge David Sentelle wrote in a 33-page ruling that the request “was made in furtherance of a subject upon which legislation could be had,” and rejected claims from the former president that Democrats’ request for his tax information was unconstitutional.

“While it is possible that Congress may attempt to threaten the sitting president with an invasive request after leaving office, every president takes office knowing that he will be subject to the same laws as all other citizens upon leaving office,” Sentelle wrote. “This is a feature of our democratic republic, not a bug.”

The Ways and Means Committee celebrated the decision and said on Twitter that it expects to receive the requested returns and audit files “immediately.”

“With great patience, we followed the judicial process, and yet again, our position has been affirmed by the courts,” Neal said in a statement. “I’m pleased that this long-anticipated opinion makes clear the law is on our side. When we receive the returns, we will begin our oversight of the IRS’s mandatory presidential audit program.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the decision an “important victory for the rule of law.”

“Access to the former president’s tax returns is crucial to upholding the public interest, our national security and our Democracy,” she said in a statement. “We look forward to the IRS complying with this ruling and delivering the requested documents so that Ways and Means can begin its oversight responsibilities of the mandatory presidential audit program.”

Trump’s legal team, however, will likely appeal the ruling either to the full DC Circuit or the Supreme Court.

The court fight stems from Neal’s original request to the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 2019 for Trump’s tax records, in which the chairman said the committee was “considering legislative proposals and conducting oversight related to” federal tax laws. Neal’s request was made under a federal law that allows Congress to request the tax information of certain individuals from the IRS.

The Treasury Department declined to comply, arguing it was not supported by a legitimate legislative purpose. The committee sued the IRS and Treasury Department to force them to turn over the tax information.

But President Biden assumed the presidency while the dispute was pending, and Neal renewed his request for five years of income tax returns from Trump and his businesses beginning in 2015. In July 2021, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said the Treasury Department must hand over the tax information, a reversal from an analysis under the Trump administration. Treasury said it intended to comply with the latest request and turn over the materials.

Again, the former president sought to block the release of his returns, arguing the requests violated the Constitution, in part because the Treasury Department was politically motivated, and Democrats lacked a valid legislative purpose.

But a federal district court in Washington granted requests from the Treasury Department and Ways and Means committee to toss out Trump’s claims, finding lawmakers’ 2021 request served a legislative purpose and did not violate the Constitution. The DC Circuit agreed.

“The chairman has identified a legitimate legislative purpose that it requires information to accomplish. At this stage, it is not our place to delve deeper than this,” Sentelle wrote. “The mere fact that individual members of Congress may have political motivations as well as legislative ones is of no moment.”