WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top economic and national security officials in the White House have launched a new effort to help the U.S. auto industry fight a growing shortage of semiconductor chips that has forced production cuts worldwide, a White House official said.
The administration of President Joe Biden has held meetings with automotive companies and suppliers to identify chokepoints and urged companies to work cooperatively to tackle the shortage, the official said on Wednesday.
The White House has also tasked U.S. embassies to identify how foreign countries and companies that produce chips can help resolve the global shortage.
The effort includes outreach to Taiwan, home of key chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), to find ways to resolve the shortage.
In a Feb. 17 letter, Biden’s top economic adviser Brian Deese thanked Taiwan’s Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua for working to help to resolve the shortage in coordination with the island’s manufacturers.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
