The delay in the U.S. "chip bill" has seriously affected the expansion plans of large semiconductor companies

Chip industry executives lobbying Congress to resolve differences and enact legislation said that without U.S. subsidies, expansion could move overseas or otherwise have limited growth in the country. The industry once hoped to get the support of President Biden and some key members of Congress to push a bill to fund the incentives through last year. However, the measure was not included in the New Crown Outbreak Relief package as the industry had hoped, and partisan bickering clouded the future of the legislation for months.

The failure to advance the funding measure is also due to obstruction by some Republicans who complain that Democrats have added spending measures to the bill that are not related to chips, and Robert Reich, the secretary of labor under President Clinton, who last month called the semiconductor strategy "pure extortion" from a highly profitable industry.

Intel Corp. recently said it would move forward with its plant plans more cautiously without government incentives, and recently postponed a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Ohio. Pat Gelsinger, the company's chief executive, told The Washington Post on Tuesday at an event that the company may change its investment plans if funding is not forthcoming.

German chipmaker Infineon is also considering plans to expand its 7-chip capacity in Texas, according to documents filed seeking tax breaks. Production could begin as early as this year, although the project depends on help from local, state and federal governments, the filing notes.

Without these incentives, the capital investment required for this expansion project would be preferable to considering other alternative regions compared to the U.S., as the former is not economically feasible," the company said in its filing, which also cited other expansion options in Germany, Austria and Malaysia.

Infineon confirmed the details but declined to comment further.

Other companies seeking to tap government funds include smaller chip companies such as Pennsylvania-based II-VI, which is boosting capacity at its home state plant in hopes of achieving a $1.5 billion expansion plan over the next five years. Chip manufacturing equipment giant Applied Materials is considering a $2 billion research facility in Texas, Arizona, California or New York state, according to the proposal document.