Padilla Applauds Announcement of $225 Million Agreement Boosting Semiconductor Manufacturing in California

Proposed investment would support the creation of the largest SiC semiconductor factory for Bosch and create up to 1,700 jobs in California

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) applauded the Biden Administration's announcement that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Bosch have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $225 million in direct funding for their Roseville, California manufacturing facility. The proposed investment from the CHIPS and Science Act would support Bosch's planned investment of $1.9 billion to transform its Roseville manufacturing facility for production of silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors, which would significantly increase the company's production capacity.

"California continues to pave the way in developing cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing solutions that protect America's global technology leadership and uplift our state's innovation economy," said Senator Padilla. "This investment from the CHIPS and Science Act in Bosch's Roseville manufacturing facility will substantially boost U.S. silicon carbide chip production, helping decarbonize our automotive industry while bringing 1,700 good-paying jobs to California."

"One of the core missions of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act is to make targeted investments across every part of the semiconductor industry to accelerate innovation and advance U.S. technology leadership," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. "SiC chips are important components for applications in the automotive, telecommunications, and defense industries because they utilize less energy, and with this proposed investment, we are taking another important step in fulfilling that priority to ensure our supply chains are more secure while creating over a thousand anticipated jobs in the process."

"The Roseville investment enables Bosch to locally produce silicon carbide semiconductors, supporting U.S. consumers on the path to electrification," said Paul Thomas, President of Bosch in North America and Bosch Mobility Americas. "Producing this key technology in the U.S. underscores our leadership in the mobility market."

Bosch is a leading tier 1 automotive supplier, including of trench gate SiC semiconductors, which are important for enhancing the efficiency of both zero-emission vehicle driving and charging capabilities. When at full capacity, this proposed project is expected to produce the majority of Bosch's SiC semiconductors and could comprise more than 40 percent of all U.S.-based SiC device manufacturing capacity. Bosch expects to produce its first chips on 200-millimeter wafers in its Roseville facility starting in 2026. The facility will perform both front-end device manufacturing and backend testing, sorting, and dicing processes.

This investment is expected to create up to 1,000 construction jobs and up to 700 manufacturing, engineering, and research and development jobs in California. Bosch has committed to providing affordable and high-quality child care to company employees and construction workers at the Roseville site. For the purposes of construction for this project, Bosch will operate under a project labor agreement with the Sacramento-Sierra Building and Construction Trades Council.

Bosch has indicated it plans to claim the Department of the Treasury's Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (CHIPS ITC), which is 25 percent of qualified capital expenditures. In addition to the proposed direct funding of up to $225 million, the CHIPS Program Office would make approximately $350 million in proposed loans - which is a part of the $75 billion in loan authority provided by the CHIPS and Science Act - available to Bosch under the PMT.

Last month, Padilla applauded the Department of Commerce's announcement that the CHIPS for America Design and Collaboration Facility (DCF), the official headquarters of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), will be established in Sunnyvale, California. The announcement came after Padilla, former Senator Laphonza Butler, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18), and Representative Doris Matsui (D-Calif.-07) led the entire California Democratic delegation in urging Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to establish the NSTC headquarters in California. Earlier this year, Padilla and Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement rebuking the CHIPS Program Office's (CPO) cancellation of the third CHIPS Act Notice of Funding Opportunity for advanced commercial research and development facilities in the United States.

In 2022, Senator Padilla and Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) sent a letter urging Senate leadership to support provisions in the final version of the United States Innovation and Competition Act that would require semiconductor companies receiving federal assistance for research, design, and manufacturing to invest in a more diverse workforce and improve procurement from minority-, veteran-, and women-owned businesses. Padilla and Warnock applauded the passage of one of these provisions through the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act later that year.

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