Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has removed an anti-China Security provision from a bill aimed at providing billions of dollars in subsidies and tax credits for the semiconductor industry, The Washington Free Beacon is reporting.
The bill was introduced in hopes of reducing a shortage of the chips that has disrupted production of everything from cars to high-tech weapons, Reuters noted.
But, according to the Beacon, Schumer has taken out a measure that would have banned U.S. companies from manufacturing products made in China such as semiconductors that were developed using federally-funded research. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, had authored the provision.
Numerous investigations have revealed the Communist government in China has stolen trade secrets from companies in the U.S., the news outlet said.
Portman's provision was taken out of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors [CHIPS] Act by Schumer earlier this month, the Beacon reported.
The reasoning behind Schumer's removal of the measure is unclear. He did not respond to a request by the Beacon for comment.
But the Beacon said the removal of the provision jeopardizes passage of the bipartisan bill. Several Republican senators, who initially supported the bill, are now opposing it.
"Legislators are talking about pouring hundreds of billions into industry subsidies and federal R&D, ostensibly to strengthen American competitiveness and to compete with China," one GOP Senate staffer said.
"Spending that level of taxpayer dollars without meaningful safeguards to ensure they don't end up in Beijing's hands — either through Chinese Communist Party espionage, corporate malfeasance, or inept bureaucrats — would be a colossal mistake."
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is pushing for a new provision in the bill that would set up counterintelligence screening to "certify that anyone receiving funds under the bill has sufficient protections against government threats."
Meanwhile, CNBC said passage of the bill in the Senate is expected Tuesday or Wednesday. If so, the House will then have to take up the bill.
"I remain hopeful that we can remain on track to finish this legislation ASAP," Schumer said, according to CNBC.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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