Trump creates U.S. Investment Accelerator to manage CHIPS Act and 'negotiate much better deals'

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that will create the United States Investment Accelerator Office within the Department of Commerce. According to the White House, it “shall focus on delivering the benefit of the bargain for taxpayers by negotiating much better deals than those of the previous administration.”

The order did not detail how this would affect already existing contracts and awards.

There were hints that Trump did not like President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act strategy to get semiconductor investments into the U.S. during his campaign. This became crystal clear in his first address to Congress in March, when he told the House Speaker to “get rid of the CHIPS Act” and spend the money for it to “reduce debt or any other reason you want to.”

Aside from this, the federal government staff purge hit the CHIPS Act office just a few days before the speech, with at least two-fifths of the current staff reportedly terminated.

The White House started reviewing CHIPS Act awards in February; some people familiar with the matter said the new administration wanted to renegotiate the terms enforced under the deal to “align with President Trump’s executive orders and policies.” It’s still unclear how these reviews will affect CHIPS Act winners, but scheduled fund disbursements are expected to be delayed.

Still, it’s not all bad news for the semiconductor industry. The setting up of the U.S. Investment Accelerator office implies that the White House is seemingly continuing with the CHIPS Act and that companies that expect to receive subsidies aren’t going to be completely stiffed by the new administration.

Furthermore, the executive order also directs it to assist investors for efficiency, reduce regulations, increase access to and use of national resources, facilitate research, and reduce regulatory barriers to increase investment in the United States. This new office is designed not just to release new federal funding for semiconductor investments but also to use the existing frameworks in Federal law so that anyone investing in the U.S. can take advantage of them.

Despite Trump’s criticism of the CHIPS Act, he still understands the importance of the semiconductor industry. He even had TSMC announce an additional $100 billion investment in its Arizona plant in the White House, while Congress introduced an act that would give tax credits to chip designers. The current administration says that the most advanced AI chips will be built in the U.S., and the U.S. Investment Accelerator office will likely pave the way to help massive tech companies achieve that within its borders.