Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump form an unlikely alliance over billions in chipmaker subsidies
American senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was a long political enemy of President Donald Trump. However, in the development of a political conspiracy, the Sanders, which is progressive, considered his enemy’s plan to convert semiconductor subsidies with millions of dollars into government shares in private companies.
The unlikely duo-a socially democratic socialist described from Vermont and the Republican President who tends to populism-now agree on one transformation in American industrial policy: if the government will hand over billions, taxpayers must have a piece of pie.
“If the micro -chips companies make a profit from the generous grants they receive from the federal government, the American taxpayers have a right to a reasonable return on this investment,” luck.
The subject of this unprecedented rapprochement is Intel, the faltering chips maker who received $ 10.9 billion under the Chips and Science Act 2022. injection was part of a broader support of $ 39 billion designed to attract semiconductor production away from Asia. The Trump administration is now pushing to exchange some of these grants to the dangers of government ownership, which rocked the markets and sent Intel shares decreased by 6 % since the announcement.
Intel refused to comment.
Strange Barash
He said the idea was Sanders in the first place.
Sanders has long criticized the chips law as companies’ care for some of the most profitable technology companies in the world. In 2022, he and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MASS) suggested an amendment that requires the Treasury to take orders or property rights or senior debts whenever federal funds go to private chips. However, this amendment failed.
Now, three years later, Trump revives the idea, and clashes Sanders.
“I am happy that the Trump administration is consistent with the amendment it offered three years ago,” Sanders said. “Tax motivations should not provide billions of dollars in corporate care for large and profitable companies such as Intel without getting anything in return.”
For Trump, this step represents a dramatic embrace of the state’s intervention in the private sector, a tactic that was increasingly inclined to him in his second term. This month, Trump called for the resignation of the CEO of Intel on previous relations with Chinese companies. Earlier this year, the administration concluded a deal that allows NVIDIA and AMD to sell artificial intelligence chips to China in exchange for 15 % of revenues in Washington.
It is an economic strategy that is somewhat similar to Rixieji and more than a mix between populism and state capitalism. In this case, Trump and Sanders are suitable representatives of integration camps.
The White House did not respond wealth Request to comment via the journalism time.
Markets apostasy
Investors are not happy with this new strategy, as they are punished with Intel shares given the uncertainty about the ownership of the government. Intel is already seeking to obtain special capital batches – including $ 2 billion injecting Japanese Softbank this month – to support its public budget.
The Ministry of Commerce, led by Secretary Howard Lottenic, is still a decline in how to implement the plan, according to Reuters. But optics are clear: It seems that the United States is no longer satisfied with supporting the manufacture of semiconductors without continuous chains.
For Sanders, it is health verification; For Trump, it is a new strategy. But for Intel, which was one day the undisputed king, it is another touch in a really troubled year.
2025-08-21 18:50:00
