Trump Establishes U.S. Investment Accelerator to Oversee CHIPS Act and Streamline Corporate Investments
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create the U.S. Investment Accelerator, a newly formed office under the Department of Commerce. The initiative is designed to manage CHIPS Act investment efforts and speed up corporate investments over $1 billion. This move also seeks to renegotiate existing deals and ease regulatory barriers for companies looking to invest in the United States.
The CHIPS and Science Act, enacted in 2022, allocated $52.7 billion in subsidies to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing. Despite its bipartisan support, President Trump has been a vocal critic of the Act. In March, he suggested that the funds should be redirected to pay down national debt. The newly formed U.S. Investment Accelerator is expected to “negotiate much better CHIPS Act deals than the previous administration,” according to a White House statement.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Ryan Baasch have been directed to establish the U.S. Investment Accelerator within 30 days. The office’s responsibilities will include managing the CHIPS Program Office, facilitating large-scale investments, and assisting businesses in navigating U.S. regulatory processes. Additionally, it aims to streamline permitting procedures, coordinate with federal agencies and states, and enhance access to national resources.
Industry analysts view this initiative as the Trump administration’s effort to imprint its approach on the CHIPS and Science Act. Olivier Blanchard, an analyst at the Futurum Group, expressed uncertainty about how the new office will differ from existing provisions within the Act that already seek to ease regulatory challenges for semiconductor companies investing in the U.S. “The head scratcher with this is that we already have the CHIPS and Science Act, which does exactly that,” Blanchard noted.
To date, billions of dollars have been awarded to companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Intel, and Samsung under the CHIPS Act. Despite President Trump’s dissatisfaction with the Act, Blanchard believes that existing contracts are legally binding and cannot be easily altered. While the administration might delay or withhold payments for non-performance, such as failure to construct planned semiconductor facilities, it lacks the authority to unilaterally terminate these agreements. “The contracts with the Commerce Department are fairly extensive and iron-clad,” Blanchard stated. “At best, I don’t see what this executive order really does. They can’t really go back and renegotiate deals.”
The administration’s approach to encouraging domestic investment has notably shifted towards implementing tariffs. This strategy contrasts with the CHIPS Act’s focus on crafting agreements with companies to advance domestic manufacturing. Blanchard emphasized that, regardless of political perspectives on the CHIPS Act, there is a general consensus in Washington supporting the expansion of U.S. chip manufacturing capabilities. “I don’t think there’s any political will in Washington to get in the way of building more chip manufacturing plants in the U.S., regardless of how some in the administration might view the CHIPS Act from a political legacy standpoint,” he said.
Stephen Ezell, vice president for global innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, suggested that while the administration may not be able to modify core terms such as milestones and financing within existing CHIPS Act contracts, it could target ancillary aspects of these agreements. “Social policy-oriented elements of these contracts, that might be something this office will be looking to address,” Ezell remarked.
Beyond overseeing CHIPS Act agreements, the U.S. Investment Accelerator is also tasked with attracting both domestic and foreign investments to the United States. A key component of this mandate involves reducing regulatory obstacles at both federal and state levels. Ezell highlighted that establishing a centralized office for managing significant U.S. investments could expedite and promote domestic manufacturing initiatives. “I think this is a signal that Trump wants the U.S. manufacturing sector to be open for business and to try to remove regulatory friction,” he observed.
The semiconductor industry has been a focal point of U.S. efforts to enhance domestic manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. The CHIPS and Science Act was a significant step in this direction, aiming to revitalize the U.S. semiconductor industry through substantial subsidies and incentives. The establishment of the U.S. Investment Accelerator reflects the current administration’s intent to further refine and potentially redirect these efforts to align with its policy objectives.
While the long-term impact of the U.S. Investment Accelerator remains to be seen, its creation underscores the administration’s commitment to reshaping the landscape of domestic investment and semiconductor manufacturing. Stakeholders in the semiconductor industry and potential investors will be closely monitoring how this new office influences the implementation of the CHIPS Act and the broader investment climate in the United States.
