Kelly, Stanton blast Trump over stance on CHIPS Act, manufacturing

PHOENIX — Two of Arizona’s most prominent Democrats criticized former President Donald Trump over recent comments made about the CHIPS Act and manufacturing needs in the country.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton called Trump’s threat to hike tariffs on foreign-made computer chips a “direct attack on Arizona’s economy.”

Trump has said multiple times, including last week on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” that tariff increases would cause financial penalties that would make companies relocate to the United States.

He has also said he opposes funding from the CHIPS Act for massive semiconductor factories that originate from foreign countries, including TSMC’s fabs in north Phoenix.

“If there is a future Trump administration and they revoke the investments that we have voted on in the CHIPS Act and all of the funding that goes along with it, Arizona’s booming semiconductor industry would be crippled,” Stanton said at a Harris-Walz campaign event in south Phoenix on Monday.

CHIPS Act necessary for Arizona’s economy, Democrats say

Kelly said Trump’s opposition to CHIPS Act funding stems from the former president’s inability to create manufacturing on the same level as the current administration.

The senator called Trump “jealous” of what the Biden administration has done for manufacturing and job creation in the country over the past four years.

The Census Bureau said the annual rate of spending on factory construction in August was $238 billion, up from $74.8 billion in August 2020 when Trump was in the White House.

“He talks about bringing jobs back to America but he was unable to do it,” Kelly said. “We actually got it done. Because of that, because of politics and his own ego, he wants to kill this legislation and lay off thousands of Arizonans, putting them out of work, kneecapping our economy and crushing a big part of our economic future.”

As of August, the CHIPS and Science Act had provided $30 billion in support for 23 projects in 15 states that would add 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs, according to the Commerce Department.

That funding helped to draw in private capital and would enable the United States to produce 30% of the world’s most advanced computer chips, up from 0% when the Biden-Harris administration succeeded Trump’s presidency.

Some of that funding includes more than $6 billion in grants and up to $5 billion in loans to help TSMC build its three Phoenix chip factories. The factories would bring thousands of jobs to the metro area.

“I helped write the [CHIPS Act] and I know first-hand the impact that’s having in our state and it has literally created already thousands of jobs,” Kelly said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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