The shortage of chips continues to be a hot topic in the technological world due to its impact on a very wide range of industries. All companies have their forecasts about when it would calm down, but none of them know for sure when the supply chain will normalize. And now to that we must add that the expectations of the United States in relation to this issue are not optimistic.
In the last few hours, the result of the report on the shortage of chips prepared by the US Department of Commerce was known. It was prepared based on the information provided by more than 150 companies, and does not offer an encouraging outlook. The Joe Biden administration believes that the problems will last at least until the second half of 2022.
The news was made known through Gina Raimondo, the Secretary of Commerce of the United States. According to Bloomberg, the official acknowledged that there is a very marked mismatch between the supply and demand for semiconductors; and also considered that there are no indications that the problem will be solved in the next six months. “We're not even close to being out of the woods when it comes to supply issues with semiconductors,” he said.
Chip Shortage: Inventory Issues and Manipulation Allegations of prices
When announcing the results of the report prepared by the United States Department of Commerce, Raimondo also referred to two recurring problems when talking about the shortage of chips: low inventory availability and possible price manipulation . Regarding the former, he indicated that the average inventory of semiconductors has fallen significantly since 2019.
Just as previously certain sectors had chips in inventory for 40 days, this number barely reaches 5 today. The US government considers that its industries are in a very fragile situation, as the outlook could get even worse if something disrupts production internationally. Let us not forget that during the last year the shortage of chips was aggravated by the outbreaks of COVID-19 in Malaysia and the drought in Taiwan, which prevented the normal performance of the factories.
As regards the alleged overpricing, the US authorities have promised to investigate further. No further details have been provided, although they have mentioned that “certain types of semiconductors” have presented prices that are considered unusually high.
The United States proposes measures that could cause a clash with Europe
Raimondo did not miss the opportunity to highlight the need for semiconductor manufacturers to invest more within the United States to increase their production. Since May of last year, Joe Biden has been asking Congress to pass a law through which he would allocate more than 50 billion dollars in incentives for companies to install more factories in the country.
This has already earned some looks of distrust in the European Union. Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission's Commissioner for Competition, recently warned of the danger of the United States and Europe entering a “subsidy race”. And while the EU has left the door open to granting subsidies to combat chip shortages, it would do so under strong controls.
Needless to say, however, any factory set up now will havezero impact in alleviating the current chip shortage. However, they could prevent more in the future.
