President Joe Biden claimed in a June 28 speech that U.S. went from producing 40% of the world’s microchips to 10%.

Verdict: True

U.S. production of the world’s microchips has fallen from 37% in 1990 to 12% in 2020, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.

Fact Check:

Biden delivered his “Bidenomics” speech in Chicago, Illinois, where he criticized “trickle-down economics” and touted his economic record, according to CNN. During the speech, Biden claimed that the U.S. went from producing 40% of the world’s microchips to 10%.

“It’s all in that little com- — without that computer chip, we got a real problem. But over time, we went from producing 40 percent of those world’s chips down to 10 percent. Not anymore,” Biden said.

This claim is true. White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson directed Check Your Fact to the Semiconductor Industry Association website, which states that “the share of modern semiconductor manufacturing capacity located in the U.S. has eroded from 37% in 1990 to 12% today.”

The source for the statistic is a 2020 report from SIA and the Boston Consulting Group. The report found that “the U.S. share of semiconductor manufacturing capacity, which was 37% back in 1990, has dropped to 12%.” This statistic was repeated in The Wall Street Journal, which reported the “U.S. share of global chip manufacturing has eroded, from 37% in 1990 to 12% in 2020.”

Daniel Rosso, the communications director for the SIA, told Check Your Fact that the “37% to 12% statistic is indeed from our report.” (RELATED: Nikki Haley Claims China Has The Largest Navy In The World)

“That represents that decline in the share of modern chip manufacturing capacity located in America from 1990 to 2020. We do not have an update on this statistic currently,” Rosso said.

Dan Wang, a Columbia Business School professor, told CNN in October 2022 that “about 10% to 14% of chips sold [globally] come from US manufacturing facilities” but that the U.S. has other strengths, such as design expertise.

A 2020 Congressional Research Service report also found that “in 2019, the United States accounted for 11% of global semiconductor fabrication capacity, down from 13% in 2015, continuing a long-term decline from around 40% in 1990.”

The Biden administration recently launched the first CHIPS for American funding opportunity in February 2023, as part of the CHIPS and Science Act that seeks to invest $50 billion in the U.S. semiconductor industry, according to the Department of Commerce. Those that win funds would also be required to share excess profits, Reuters reported at the time.