The U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC)and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently announced a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) expanding collaboration to strengthen the semiconductor defense industrial base.
“This agreement is an important step forward in increasing the capacity and resiliency of our domestic semiconductor industrial base,” said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Laura Taylor-Kale, who signed the MOA on behalf of the Department of Defense. “It is essential for DoD and DoC to consult one another to ensure we are making complementary investments that support a robust semiconductor industrial base. Both Departments are working together to expand domestic semiconductor production capacity in a coordinated fashion.”
The agreement would increase information sharing between the Departments to facilitate close coordination on the CHIPS for America’s incentives program, ensuring their respective investments position the United States to produce semiconductor chips essential to national security and defense programs.
“Advancing U.S. national security is a top priority,” said CHIPS Program Office Director Michael Schmidt, who signed the MOA on behalf of the Department of Commerce. “Our Departments must work together and align on where and how we are making investments to strengthen the U.S. industrial base. This agreement will enable our teams to coordinate the national security review of applications, produce semiconductor chips in America that our military relies on, and bolster our domestic supply chain resiliency.”