President Trump just signed an executive order creating a US Investment Accelerator with responsibility to negotiate billions of dollars in “much better” grants deals under the CHIPS Act than those forged during the Biden administration.

“The Investment Accelerator will be responsible for administering the CHIPS Program Office, where it will deliver the benefit of the bargain for taxpayers, negotiating much better CHIPS Act deals than the previous Administration,” according to both a White House executive order and fact sheet released March 31.

The outcome of the revamp process of grants could eliminate some of the more “woke” elements in guardrails required by the Act, such as environmental protections and child care requirements during the construction or operation of a large new fab, three industry officials said, asking not to be identified. Conversely, grants recipients might be required to increase the private contribution they have agreed to make to build a new fab.

One industry official said environmental permitting affecting wildlife and waterways might be eased, saying somewhat sarcastically it would be a choice of "fish or chips."

Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has begun urging companies that have already won grants to contribute more private dollars to their domestic construction projects than agreed upon during the Biden administration under Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, according to reports and industry officials who spoke to Fierce. President Trump said the tariff threat he raised was why TSMC decided to boost its US contribution toward chip manufacturing of $60 billion to $160 billion.

Some background on the CHIPS Act and what it means for the Accelerator

The CHIPS and Science Act passed with bipartisan support in 2022 and was signed by President Biden. Some of the initial concepts of the act were conceived during the first Trump presidency. As passed, the Act grants $52.7 billion for research and domestic semiconductor-related manufacturing. Of that amount, about $2 billion was allocated to Intel for a defense-related semiconductor project with another $11 billion for various research grants.

Of the remaining $39 billion in grants for manufacturing, the CHIPS Program Office had signed as of January contracts for more than $36 billion with various companies. However, the US Treasury has only sent checks to grant recipients totalling about $4 billion. Potentially that means the Investment Accelerator could renegotiate how $35 billion, or even more, is dispersed. In his joint session to Congress on March 4, the president called the CHIPS Act a “horrible, horrible thing…You should get rid of the CHIPS Act and whatever is left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt.”

The CHIPS Act also included a 25% tax credit for new domestic construction work in semiconductor-related areas, which applies to all companies, not just those who are grants recipients. Some electronics companies have already reported taking advantage of the tax credit in earnings reports, and industry officials said the tax credit is far more valuable to companies than the grants in some cases, resulting in billions in savings over the lifetime of a project. Lutnick is reportedly interested in using the tax credit to his advantage in negotiating deals in the Accelerator process and might even seek to raise the percentage of the credit above 25%.

How the Investment Accelerator will work

The US Investment Accelerator will operate within the Department of Commerce and will have several duties including administering the CHIPS Program Office to negotiate the “much better CHIPS Act deals.”

In addition the Accelerator is charged with accelerating investments above $1 billion in the US with several tools: reducing regulatory burdens; speeding up permitting; coordinating responses to investor problems across multiple federal agencies; increasing access to national resources; facilitating collaboration with national labs; and working with all 50 state government and their economic development officials.

“An Investment Accelerator is needed to cut through red tape and ensure that business can quickly deploy capital and create jobs without navigating a maze of bureaucratic hurdles,” the White House said. “By streamlining processes, the Accelerator will attract both foreign and domestic investment, reinforcing America’s position as the premier destination for large-scale investment.”

The fact sheet concludes: “With the Investment Accelerator in place, President Trump is supercharging the flow of capital into the United States, boosting prosperity across the nation.”

What’s happening to the CHIPS Program Office at NIST now under the Acclerator?

According to industry officials who spoke to Fierce, the CHIPS Program Office at NIST is still functioning and working with grantees, although its workforce has been reduced under federal cuts that eliminated workers with less than two years on the job. Officials at Commerce and NIST could not be reached to comment, however. At one point, DOGE was expected to cut NIST overall by 500 jobs, but the number has been far fewer so far.

One long-time NIST professional still working at the Commerce agency told Fierce that staffers had been asked to take a $25,000 one-time payment to voluntarily leave NIST by May 3 and he knew of two staffers who had taken the offer. The deadline to take the offer is April 17, the NIST employee said, after which DOGE or Commerce will determine how many more workers must be laid off.

By: DocMemory
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