Semiconductor Re-Industrialization in the United States: A Market in the Making
Since the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, a total of $52.7 billion has been flowing into the United States to build domestic semiconductor capacity and strengthen local supply chains. The current U.S. administration is pressing forward with this strategy, emphasizing speed, domestic value creation, and technological self-sufficiency. More than 100 projects across over 28 states are in planning or active development. By 2032, the United States aims to account for roughly 30 percent of global advanced chip production.
For American companies, this is primarily a re-shoring program — the return of strategically critical manufacturing to domestic soil. For European suppliers, it represents a structural onshoring opportunity in the world’s largest single market.
Where Demand Is Emerging
The construction of new semiconductor fabs generates demand that extends well beyond chip manufacturing itself. Companies able to deliver specialized capabilities in the following areas are in high demand:
- Cleanroom and utility systems: Design, equipment, and operation of high-purity production environments
- Vacuum technology, specialty chemicals, and analytics: Key enabling technologies within the manufacturing process
- Automation, engineering, and industrial services: System integration, commissioning, and long-term support
European mid-market companies frequently possess deep technological expertise and long-standing reference projects in these areas — precisely the credentials that matter in a qualification-driven market like semiconductors.
The Path Into the Supply Chain Is Complex
Access to these large-scale projects rarely comes through conventional tendering processes or central procurement departments. Instead, it is owner teams of the project developers, EPC and EPCM partners (Engineering, Procurement, Construction), system integrators, and project-specific qualification processes that determine inclusion or exclusion.
This means that European suppliers seeking to enter this market must establish visibility at the right levels early on, while simultaneously demonstrating a credible willingness to build local delivery and service capabilities on the ground.
Early Positioning as a Strategic Advantage
Experience from comparable industrial programs shows that supply chains are shaped during early project phases. Companies that are not yet known at that stage face a significantly steeper climb in later award rounds. Building presence, partnerships, and qualification credentials is therefore not a complementary measure — it is a prerequisite for successfully developing this market.
Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce / NIST, The White House, Semiconductor Industry Association