Senate poised to sharpen China rivalry with chip aid, R&D

The Senate was moving slowly toward passage of an expansive bill to bolster U.S. economic competitiveness and confront China’s rise, debating some last amendments before a final vote.

The legislation cleared an initial procedural vote after a deal was struck between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republicans on some changes to the bill. But the debate dragged into Friday morning as several Republicans demanded consideration of additional amendments and objected to voting without fully reading the lengthy bill.

“We really have an obligation to know what on Earth we’re voting for,” said Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican.

Schumer had set a goal of passing the legislation before senators leave Washington for a scheduled week-long break.

The bill, which has bipartisan support in the Senate but faces significant hurdles in the House, would plow more than $100 billion into U.S. research and development and provide $52 billion to foster domestic semiconductor manufacturing. It also includes a wide array of measures directly targeting China—on human rights and its influence in the U.S.—underscoring the bipartisan angst over the rise of the strategic rival.

President Joe Biden has backed the bill, which is emerging a key test of whether significant bipartisan legislation can be passed in a bitterly divided 50-50 Senate.

Thursday’s procedural vote was delayed for several hours as Republicans demanded their amendments get put before the chamber. Schumer said the Senate already had voted on 18 amendments, 14 of them from GOP senators.

“It’s time to move forward together and pass this bill,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday. “We can finish the bill today.”

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell responded that while his party wanted their amendments considered, “Republicans don’t want a big fight over this.”

At the center of the delay was an amendment from Republican Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho that he sponsored with Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat. It takes aim at trade imbalances between the U.S. and China, as well as other countries, and Crapo was expecting it to be included in the final package. Schumer had excluded it because, he said, it wasn’t germane to the underlying bill, but he relented after Republicans held up debate over the broader measure for hours Thursday afternoon.

“It expands and strengthens our trade posture, not just vis-a-vis China, but our trade posture globally,” Crapo said. “I think it’s one of the most critical things we could do here.”

The Senate easily adopted the trade-related amendment on a 91-4 vote.

Other senators were seeking consideration of their amendments as well. The Senate considered Crapo’s and one from Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on security measures to help protect U.S. intellectual property from theft. Rubio’s amendment was tabled.

While the legislation has broad bipartisan backing in the Senate, the House is still working on its own version and it could be tougher to muster enough support for a final bill. Both parties in the House are deeply divided over how to best to get tougher on competitiveness with China.