President Joe Biden schedules visit to Phoenix for next week

PHOENIX – President Joe Biden will visit a Phoenix microchip plant next week to tout his economic plan, the White House announced Wednesday.

Biden will stop by the multibillion dollar Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Tuesday. While there, the president is expected to discuss the growth of American production and the creation of good-paying jobs in Arizona and the rest of the country.

No other details of the trip were made immediately available.

“We consider TSMC a signature success for Gov. Ducey and we’re excited for President Biden to see it firsthand,” a spokesman for Ducey told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.

TSMC is a leader in the production of semiconductors, the critical chips that are used in everyday electronics and have become a battleground in the technology competition between the U.S. and China.

In August, Biden signed the $280 billion CHIPS act that is designed to boost domestic high-tech manufacturing and lessen dependence on overseas semiconductor supply chains. The bill sets aside $52 billion for the computer-chip sector.

Earlier this month, Arizona allocated $100 million in federal funding to juice the state’s semiconductor industry.

The Arizona Commerce Authority will manage the allocation, which will in part be used to help the state take advantage of opportunities under the CHIPS Act.

Biden has not visited Arizona since he became president. His last trip to the Grand Canyon State came while he was on the campaign trail in October 2020.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Taylor Kinnerup and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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