Biden to sign order tackling chip shortage amid automaker woes

The scarcity of semiconductor chips, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, will be the subject when President Joe Biden meets with a bipartisan group of US lawmakers on Wednesday.

United States President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday aimed at addressing a global semiconductor chip shortage that has forced US automakers and other manufacturers to cut production and alarmed the White House and members of Congress, administration officials said. The scarcity, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, will be the subject when Biden meets with a bipartisan group of US lawmakers on Wednesday to discuss the issue. Administration officials said Biden’s executive order, to be signed at 4:45pm (17:45 GMT) in Washington, DC on Wednesday, will launch an immediate 100-day review of supply chains for four critical products: semiconductor chips, large-capacity batteries for electric vehicles, rare earth minerals and pharmaceuticals.