A major chip industry group has directly warned the Trump administration that government intervention in prices or production capacity would backfire. The Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, arguing such moves would worsen the very shortage they aim to fix.
The letter, reported by Bloomberg, reflects growing tension between the tech sector and policymakers. SEMI, whose members include memory giants Micron and Samsung, is pushing back against the idea of direct controls, which it sees as counterproductive in a supply chain already under severe strain.
No specific policy proposals were detailed in the letter, but the warning is blunt: any US policy that distorts market-driven pricing or capacity planning could deepen the crisis. The group represents the equipment and materials suppliers critical to chip fabrication, giving its views significant weight.
The shortage has squeezed industries from automakers to data centers for over two years. SEMI's intervention suggests the administration may be exploring aggressive measures to secure domestic supply, though the industry prefers incentives over controls.
Critics might argue that unfettered markets have failed to prevent the shortage in the first place, and that some government coordination is necessary to fix structural vulnerabilities in the chip supply chain.