By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The largest U.S. labor organization said on Monday it wants lawmakers negotiating a measure to boost funding for semiconductor chips production and U.S. competitiveness to remove “pro-China provisions.”
The AFL-CIO trade federation, representing 12.5 million workers, took aim at the Senate version of the bill in a letter to lawmakers, saying it “would benefit China’s economy more than ours by lowering tariffs and continuing our over-reliance on China in key sectors.”
The Senate and the House of Representatives have passed separate versions of the bill, and are now negotiating to reach a final deal. Both versions provide $52 billion to subsidize U.S. semiconductor research and production, which the AFL-CIO supports.
A persistent industry-wide shortage of chips has disrupted production in the automotive and electronics industries, forcing some firms to scale back production, and there have been growing calls to decrease reliance on other countries for semiconductors.
The AFL-CIO calls for the removal of several trade provisions in the Senate version, including reforming a tariff exclusion process and granting tariff-free access for Chinese personal protective equipment, medicines and other medical goods.
A group of more than 100 House and Senate lawmakers met Thursday to open negotiations, but aides say it could be months before a final deal on a bill is reached.
Last week, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the Chinese government…
