US President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law a bill providing $52 billion in subsidies to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, AFP reports.

The Democrat said investing in these parts, which are at the heart of modern electronics, will help his country win in the “economic competition of the 21st century.”

The bill, passed by Congress in late July, also provides tens of billions of dollars for research and development.

For Joe Biden, the passage of this law represents a victory after a long struggle and good news as the midterm elections approach.

The bill “strengthens our semiconductor manufacturing efforts here in America,” Biden said, praising entrepreneurs who are “the reason I’m optimistic about the future of our country.”

This investment plan “will lower the cost of doing business, create good-paying manufacturing jobs across the country and strengthen America’s leadership in the industries of the future,” the president said in a statement after the congressional vote.

Demand for semiconductors has exploded during the pandemic, causing a global shortage that has been exacerbated by the closure of Chinese factories in the face of the return of Covid.

The United States, whose share of world production has fallen sharply in recent years in favor of Asia, has suffered from this deficit. That slowed the production of new cars last year, pushing up car prices.