We now have another case of tech nationalism, with Micron planning to expand a specialty DRAM facility in Virginia. Having an increased capacity to manufacture specialty DRAM products will allow the United States to maintain supplies while engaged in any conflict with China or if there is a natural disaster in Asia.
Micron plans to invest $2.17 billion to expand its semiconductor facility in Manassas, Virginia, creating 340 jobs and boosting its U.S. semiconductor production capacity, said Governor Glenn Youngkin. The project will upgrade the facility to produce specialty DRAM memory for industrial, automotive, aerospace, and defense applications.
Earlier this month, Micron announced that it had gotten $275 million in federal funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to upgrade its long-lifecycle DRAM fab in Manassas, Virginia, and move production of DRAM for the automotive industry from Taiwan to the United States. Back then, the company said that its fab in Virginia employs 1,230 people and that the expansion will create 950 construction jobs and more than 400 manufacturing jobs.
It is imperative that memory production inside the United States is maintained and expanded. After all, what’s the purpose of a CPU without any memory?
In a conflict the United States will lose access to Chinese electronics / computer parts / semiconductors and may even lose access to South Korean, Taiwanese, and Japanese products as China pursues a blockade to crush supplies to the United States.
And in the event of an earthquake or tsunami in Taiwan, South Korea, or Japan necessary inputs and finished DRAM products may not be available for months if not years. This would disrupt supply chains to an insane extent. Taiwan and South Korea are responsible for enough inputs and finished products to take down the entire world’s supply chains with no easy replacements for their national capacities.
The world has to be cognizant of the fact that a natural disaster and a conflict with China are likely. One or the other will take down semiconductor and memory production and without domestic production the United States and the rest of the world will be screwed.
It’s better to pay up now to make sure there is adequate production of inputs, semiconductors, and general computer parts for US domestic consumption. It is better to take on the expenses involved through things like the CHIPS Act to create a domestic ecosystem for semiconductors / electronics than it is to live through the hell of rationing. How would you like to receive a ration book with a slip for one keyboard every two years? It’d be ridiculous which is exactly why people ignore the possibility of this happening.
But it’s reality. In the event of natural disaster or conflict electronics and computer parts will be rationed and we will lose our entire way of life. Break your phone? Tough luck. You’re going back to navigating with paper maps buddy.
Anyway the point is technological nationalism, the support for domestic production of semiconductors, inputs, and electronics… is a good thing. Technological nationalism will protect the world from the extreme disruptions that would occur with any natural disaster or conflict that may very well occur.
We should all be happy about the CHIPS Act and Micron’s support for US manufacturing