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

a Photo of the White House
(Image credit: David Everett Strickler / Unsplash)

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.”

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.

Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

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