Joe Biden, who is running for a second term, unveiled nearly $20 billion in aid on Wednesday to allow U.S. semiconductor giant Intel to increase production in the U.S., AFP reported.

“Guys, it’s time. We invented the most complex electronic components, but today we manufacture 0% of them” because the industry “has been moved to Asia”, complained the US president in a speech in Chandler, Arizona (Southwest).

“We will allow the production of the most complex electronics to resume,” promised the 81-year-old Democrat, who describes himself as a champion of reindustrialization and a defender of industrial jobs.

“America will not allow its competitors to gain the upper hand,” Joe Biden vowed at a time when the United States and China are engaged in ruthless competition.

This is the largest amount announced to date by the US government to counter Chinese power.

The Chinese threat and domestic production

The goal is also to protect America from disruptions in the supply of microprocessors that “run your cell phones, dishwashers, satellites and military equipment,” as was the case during the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe Biden said.

The choice of Arizona for the official announcement was no accident: he won the border state by only 10,457 votes against Donald Trump in 2020. And he knows that the fight against the same Republican opponent will be just as fierce in the elections. in November.

The incumbent is struggling to convince voters who are skeptical of his economic record despite recent positive statistics on economic growth, job creation, low unemployment and slowing inflation.

The Intel deal is part of the Chip and Science Act.

The law, which takes effect in the summer of 2022, would provide $52.7 billion to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, with public funds serving as a springboard for private investment.

The package announced Wednesday will help “build and expand Intel’s infrastructure in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon,” according to the White House.

It is expected to create almost 30,000 direct jobs and “support tens of thousands of indirect jobs.”

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters before the official announcement that Intel would invest the equivalent of more than $100 billion.