California Democrats urge US president Joe Biden not to scrap chips R&D funding

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Alex Padilla, both Democrats, urged the Biden administration on Monday to reverse its decision to cancel a subsidy programme for building and expanding semiconductor research and development facilities.

The US Commerce Department said late Friday it would scrap plans to fund the programme from the $52.7 billion Chips and Science Act due to “overwhelming demand” for funding awards to subsidize chips production.