By David Shepardson, Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -GlobalFoundries and at least two other chipmakers are poised to receive their final Chips and Science Act awards from the Biden administration, a person briefed on the matter said, a sign of progress amid growing concerns about the pace of the award rollout.
The U.S. Commerce Department notified Congress at least three companies are close to receiving a final award, the person and another source said. The Commerce Secretary must notify appropriate committees at least 15 days before making any deal over $10,000,000.
Reuters could not determine the timing of the award announcement or the exact amount, though it is expected to be close to the initial sum.
A preliminary agreement was announced by the Commerce Department in February to award $1.5 billion to GlobalFoundries to build a new semiconductor production facility in Malta, New York, and expand existing operations there and in Burlington, Vermont.
The three companies are among 21 awarded about $37 billion in preliminary agreements through the bipartisan 2022 CHIPS ACT, aimed at luring chipmakers out of Asia to expand production in the U.S. So far, only one has been finalized and announced. It went to Polar Semiconductor for $123 million to expand and modernize a chip fab in Bloomington, Minnesota.
But the fact that Congress has been notified of at least three deals shows the Biden administration is making headway on final terms, amid growing concern among award recipients that Republican Donald Trump could scuttle the grants when he becomes president. Reuters could not determine the other two companies closing their deals.
GlobalFoundries declined to comment.
A Commerce department spokesperson decline to comment on GlobalFoundries and said: “Per statute, the congressional notification is a routine part of the Chips Program Office process and doesn’t indicate that the award terms are final.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld; editing by Chris Sanders and Stephen Coates)
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