Biden to meet with 19 companies on chip shortage

The executives are expected to include Google parent Alphabet’s GOOG, -1.37% GOOGL, -1.22%, CEO, Sundar Pichai, along with Dell DELL, -0.05% CEO Michael Dell, General Motors GM, -0.37% CEO Mary Barra and Intel INTC, -3.99% CEO Pat Gelsinger.

The other companies sending a CEO or other high-level exec are AT&T T, -0.11%, Cummins CMI, +0.72%, Ford F, -0.47%, Global Foundries, HP HPQ, -0.45%, Medtronic MDT, +0.17%, Micron MU, +0.46%, Northrop Grumman NOC, +0.04%, NXP NXPI, -1.17%, Paccar PCAR, +1.61%, Piston Group, Samsung 005930, -0.48%, SkyWater Technology SKYT, , Stellantis STLA, +0.31% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. TSM, -2.03%

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese are hosting the summit, with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also participating.

Ahead of the meeting, the Semiconductor Industry Association said it’s “an important opportunity for a discussion on the need to fund investments in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research to help ensure the long-term strength and resilience of America’s semiconductor supply chain.”

Chips SMH, -1.41% SOXX, -1.26% have been hard to come by for months, causing difficulties for auto makers and other industries. The cause looks like a combination of increased demand as people scoop up electronics during the COVID-19 pandemic, limited manufacturing capacity to meet that demand, and the U.S.-China trade war.

The Biden’s administration’s actions in response to the shortage have included producing a February executive order that aims for reviews of supply chains for semiconductors and other critical goods, along with calling for $50 billion for the chip industry in the president’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.

Opinion: The U.S. must put the vital semiconductor industry above Wall Street’s interests

U.S. stocks SPX, DJIA, -0.13% traded modestly lower Monday, as investors braced for first-quarter earnings and assessed Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell’s comments that it “will be a while” before the central bank taps the brakes on the economy.