Chip Stocks Fall on Reports White House Seeking Equity in Exchange for Grants

Share prices of major semiconductor companies fell sharply on Aug. 20 following reports that the Trump administration is considering taking equity stakes in some chipmakers in exchange for federal funding provided under the CHIPS and Science Act.

Intel share prices dropped by 7 percent, Micron share prices fell by 4 percent, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) share prices slid by 1.8 percent on Aug. 20. Share prices of Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) declined by 0.14 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Citing a White House official and another anonymous source, Reuters reported on Aug. 20 that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been working on a plan under which the U.S. government would receive equity stakes in Intel and other recipients of CHIPS Act grants. Micron, TSMC, and Samsung are among the recipients, according to the report, although the sizes of any potential stakes have not been determined.

The White House and Commerce Department did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

On Aug. 19, Lutnick confirmed the administration’s plan regarding Intel but did not clarify whether the request would extend to other chipmakers.

President Donald Trump thinks that rather than giving away grants, the United States “should get the benefit of the bargain,” Lutnick told CNBC.

“We should get an equity stake for our money, so we’ll deliver the money which was already committed under the Biden administration,” he said. “We’ll get equity in return for it, [and] get a good return for the American taxpayer instead of just giving grants away.”

The federal government would not obtain a voting stake or governance rights to manage Intel’s operations through the investment, Lutnick said. He did not disclose the government’s proposed total stake in Intel.

The previous administration awarded billions of dollars in grants from the CHIPS Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden, to boost domestic semiconductor production. Intel received nearly $11 billion in CHIPS Act grants, while TSMC was awarded $6.6 billion and Micron $6.1 billion.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Aug. 19 that the Commerce Department continues to “iron out the details” to secure a 10 percent government stake in Intel.

“The president wants to put America’s needs first, both from a national security and economic perspective, and it’s a creative idea that has never been done before,” she said in response to a question from The Epoch Times.

She did not confirm whether similar requests would be sent to other chipmakers.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking to CNBC on Aug. 19, said the government would not “take a stake and then try to drum up business.”

The stake would come through converting the grants and potentially increasing investment in Intel to help stabilize the company and expand chip production in the United States, he said, noting that there are no plans to force companies to buy from Intel.

He described the effort as part of a broader push to bring chip manufacturing back home for national security reasons.

“The single point of failure for the global economy is that 99 percent of the advanced chips in the world are made in Taiwan,” he said.

TSMC declined to comment. Intel and Micron did not respond to requests for comment.