Clete Willems Quoted by Law360 on Federal 'Guardrails' to Protect Domestic Chip Manufacturing

Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems was quoted by Law360 for its article "US To Boost Chipmaking With Tax Credit, Subsidies." The article discussed President Joe Biden's signing into law of the CHIPS and Science Act, which, in addition to providing nearly $53 billion in subsidies and grants for U.S. semiconductor R&D, manufacturing and workforce development, also sets guardrails to prevent companies benefiting from these incentives from building facilities in China and other countries of concern.

Willems, who served in the Trump White House as Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economics, was quoted at a recent webinar as saying that the Treasury and Commerce departments will face considerable scrutiny as they implement these programs. He said, "I think that it's going to be really difficult for them to thread the line because on one hand, they're going to have to answer to members of Congress. But on the other hand, if these guardrails are interpreted in a far too restrictive of a manner, it may create a situation where companies say, 'Look it's not worth it for me to take this money'."