Category: Foreign

The global water challenges are enormous. From America to Europe and elsewhere, no one is immune. United States Bureau Chief OLUKOREDE YISHAU, who was at a briefing addressed by U.S. Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources and Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Monica Medina, reports that America is determined to reduce the impacts of lack of safe water on human health and well-being. Excerpts:

UN Water Conference

It’s been nearly 50 years since the last UN water conference, 50 years in which our scientific understanding of the Earth’s water resources has expanded and deepened dramatically, but also 50 years in which global water issues have become more pressing and profound. This week’s United Nations water conference in New York is both urgent and long overdue. Billions of people around the world still lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene. Some of those people actually live here in the United States. Water supplies are increasingly scarce and unpredictable. And the lack of safe water poses enormous risks to human health and well-being.
Alongside this chronic lack of access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation, communities around the world are being devastated by floods and droughts linked to the climate crisis. Here in the United States, we are seeing both floods and droughts that are devastating. For example, the last three years in California were the driest in recorded history, with a 1,200-year drought. Withering crops, endangered drinking water supplies, and intensifying wildfires is what we’ve experienced. As of last week, this drought had been followed but not entirely relieved by destructive flooding, a river – an atmospheric river – with more than half of California’s 58 counties under a state of emergency due to water.
And of course, similar natural disasters are taking place around the world. Just last week, I was in Pakistan where I was able to hear about firsthand the tragic impacts of last year’s floods, which submerged nearly a third of the country. And I know we all still have the pictures, the horrible pictures, in our minds.
The international community together must put water at the forefront of the agenda. It is the connector of all the sustainable development goals and the vector by which we feel and see the impacts of climate change most directly. That’s why I’m joining the call for the UN to appoint a special envoy for water this year at this conference this week, now. We need another strong voice to champion water issues across sectors and platforms.
I sincerely hope that we do not need to wait another 50 years for the next UN Water Conference, and I’m very excited to see the energy and the interest in this subject today, now. There’s so much activity across the street. It’s such a very good time for us to be looking at these issues that connect to so many of the other things that we’re working on, not just climate change but plastic pollution, ocean conservation, and of course the biodiversity crisis.

Water challenge in Nigeria
Oh goodness, the water challenge is very serious in lots of places around the world, and it’s hard for me to judge how serious it is in one place versus another. What I can tell you is we in the United States are seeing it ourselves, so we know how challenging it is firsthand. And we know that’s why this conference is being held now, because we are seeing these devastating impacts either of lack of water or too much water or both in the same place at the same time. And our California stress is an example of that, but we know we’re not alone. It was the same in Pakistan and in so many other parts of the world.
So the time is now to start to bring resources and focus to these challenges. We have UN bodies and agreements that deal with drought and that deal with wetlands and – but we need to bring them together and have them work more closely together, which is one reason why we support the UN special envoy on water.

Climate change
We know that climate change is causing lots of impacts. Sea level rise is devastating many places around the world, and the U.S. has a program that we are using to look at these issues and try and help places like the one in Senegal. We – it’s called PREPARE. It’s really well-named for what it does. It does aim to help countries adapt and become more resilient to climate change. And we do think island nations are particularly challenged and islands themselves are particularly challenged in a climate-stressed world with sea level rising.

We also had a very exciting Africa Leaders Summit last December in Washington where we announced other initiatives to help African countries deal with climate change. So we are very interested in doing everything that we can to help, and our PREPARE challenge is to try to help 500 million people by the end of the decade deal with climate change around the world. So we have set an ambitious goal for ourselves.

Shrinking sea
We’ve seen this kind of devastation in our own country. We have something called the Great Salt – Salton Sea in the southern part of California, which is a lake that used to exist and is shrinking, so we know how devastating that is for local communities and populations.

Again, our big program on this is called PREPARE and it is an effort to help not only adapt and respond to these issues, but also to help forecast them so that places that are climate-stressed can get ahead of these problems. If we work to predict some of the worst and most devastating impacts and help countries prepare for them, it’s much better than trying to deal with the effects after they – after the devastation.

So again, we’re looking to try to get ahead of these climate stressors now, and we appreciate how challenging they are.

Egypt
Egypt has led one of the strategic dialogues here at the conference, and it is important to look and to hear from countries that are experiencing these challenges firsthand.
As for our U.S. activities around the dam in Egypt – or the dam and the impacts on Egypt, we are working with all three governments involved. We have a special envoy who’s dedicated to helping all countries in the region solve this challenge, this problem, and we hope that they’ll find a solution and can work through it together.

Devastating impacts
One of the things that would be worse than the devastating impacts of too much or too little water is spending the precious resources that the government has on things that aren’t going to work. So one of the most important parts about this conference and one of the things that the U.S. Government really hopes to be able to do is to lend our expertise to other countries, so that when we come in with additional financial assistance it’s spent in ways that are effective and that make the most of the dollars that we have to help other countries with their challenges, and that we learn from that experience so that we can improve everyone’s ability and we can share that knowledge at conferences like this one so that we can all do a better job of preparing for and adapting to climate change.

Nine police officers have been arrested in Mexico in connection with the disappearance of 43 students of Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in 2014.

The Secretariat of Public Security of the State of Guerrero announced the arrest yesterday.

The criminal investigation agency said it implemented the order to arrest the seven state police officers and two others in Iguala municipality.

In September 2014, 43 students of the college known for its left-wing activism, disappeared after being intercepted by police on their way back home from Iguala.

The students had taken part in protests against discriminatory hiring practices for teachers.

It was reported that the local police blocked the road the students were traveling, kidnapped them and handed them over to bandits who killed the students in different places.

Analysis of the bone remains found during the search operation confirmed the identity of three of the missing students.

Also, witnesses to the events, participants and 26 key witnesses’ had so far died or were killed during the investigation.

The country’s interior ministry called the 2014 kidnapping a state crime committed in collaboration with the Guerreros Unidos criminal gang and agents of a few Mexican state bodies.

The investigation did not find anything indicating that the missing students could be alive.

The federal court ordered the arrest of 83 persons in connection with the case, including 20 commanders and soldiers of the Mexican army’s 27th and 41st infantry battalion.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says Tanzania confirmed it’s first-ever cases of Marburg Virus Disease after conducting laboratory tests in the country’s northwest Kagera region.

WHO, in a statement on yesterday, said lab tests were carried out after eight people in the region developed symptoms of the “highly virulent” disease, including fever, vomiting, bleeding and kidney failure.

Five of the eight confirmed cases have died, including a health worker, and the remaining three are being treated. The agency also identified 161 contacts of those infected, who are currently being monitored.

“The efforts by Tanzania’s health authorities to establish the cause of the disease is a clear indication of the determination to effectively respond to the outbreak.

“We are working with the government to rapidly scale up control measures to halt the spread of the virus and end the outbreak as soon as possible,”  Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, said.

While this is the first time Tanzania has recorded a Marburg case, the country has first-hand experience responding to other crises including COVID-19, cholera and dengue within the past three years.

 In September 2022, The UN health agency conducted a strategic risk assessment that revealed the country was at high risk for infectious diseases outbreaks.

“The lessons learnt, and progress made during other recent outbreaks should stand the country in good stead as it confronts this latest challenge.

“We will continue to work closely with the national health authorities to save lives,” Moeti said.

Marburg virus commonly causes hemorrhagic fever, with a high fatality ratio of up to 88 per cent.

It is part of the same family as the virus that causes Ebola. Symptoms associated with the Marburg virus start suddenly, with high fever, severe headache and intense malaise.

The virus is commonly transmitted to humans from fruit bats and spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.

While there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus, supportive care, rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms increase chances of survival. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Israeli lawmakers on yesterday passed a law to make it harder to declare Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as unfit to serve.

The first in a series of laws comprising the far-right government’s controversial judicial overhaul plan.

The bill was passed early in the morning after a heated overnight debate, with 61 members of the 120-seat Knesset (parliament) voting in favour and 47 against.

The remaining lawmakers either abstained or were not present for the vote.

It was approved despite warnings from Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who said the law would shield the incumbent Netanyahu from being ousted over his corruption trial.

Under the new controversial law, a prime minister could only be declared unfit and forced to step down if three-quarters of the government’s ministers confirmed so due to the prime minister’s physical or psychological incapacity.

The new legislation was an amendment to a quasi-constitutional basic law that provided guidelines for dealing with a prime minister who was unable to perform their duties.

The vote came only hours before Israelis launch another day of nationwide protests against the judicial overhaul.

Since the start of 2023, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets across the country in weekly protests to oppose the government’s plan to weaken the Supreme Court.

The protest was also against the expansion of the powers of the government over the judiciary.

The crisis had sparked nationwide turmoil, with calls from within the military’s elite units to refuse to show up for duty in case the overhaul would be approved, unnerved high-tech investors, and drawn international criticism.

The United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria has urged the Nigerian authorities to hold accountable and bring to justice any individuals found to have ordered or participated in the intimidation of voters and suppression of voting during the March 18 governorship and state assembly elections.

A statement by its Public Affairs Section indicated that the United States is deeply troubled by the alleged disturbing acts of violent voter intimidation and suppression that took place during the polls in Lagos, Kano, and other states.

The statement claimed that members of the U.S. diplomatic mission observed the elections in Lagos and others “and witnessed some of these incidents first-hand”.

“The use of ethnically charged rhetoric before, during, and after the gubernatorial election in Lagos was particularly concerning.  We commend all Nigerian political actors, religious and community leaders, youth, and citizens, who have chosen to reject and speak out against such violence and inflammatory language, affirming Nigerians’ commitment to and respect for the democratic process.

“We call on Nigerian authorities to hold accountable and bring to justice any individuals found to have ordered or carried out efforts to intimidate voters and suppress voting during the election process.  The United States likewise will consider all available actions, including additional visa restrictions, on individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic process in Nigeria.

“Following the February 25 national elections, the United States joined other international observers in urging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve voting processes and technical elements that experienced flaws in that voting round.  The March 18 elections appear to have had significant operational improvements, as polling stations generally opened on time and most results were visible on an electronic viewing platform in a timely manner.

“The United States renews its call for any challenges to election results to go through established legal processes, which must not be interfered with.  We further call for Nigeria’s people to work together as they participate in and continue to strengthen the country’s vibrant democracy,” the statement reads.

• 142 protesters arrested

French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday consulted with allies on what to do next after his government barely survived a no-confidence motion, violent protests erupted across the country and unions stepped up strikes.

Protesters played cat-and-mouse with police for a fifth night on Monday, setting bins and barricades on fire and leaving Macron to face the most dangerous challenge to his authority since the “Yellow Vest” revolt over four years ago.

Police in Paris reportedly arrested 142 people in the French capital overnight during street protests that followed the finalisation of the pensions’ reforms.

BFMTV broadcaster said 11 police officers were injured, citing police sources, according to a report by Reuters/NAN.

Demonstrations also broke out in other cities including Saint-Étienne, Strasbourg, Amiens, Caen, and Toulouse, media reports said.

Macron planned to meet Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and the leaders of various political groups yesterday to tackle the fallout from the political developments the previous day.

The failure of the no-confidence vote – by a mere nine votes – means his flagship pension reform raising the retirement age by two years to 64, is adopted, in a relief for Macron, who has made it a key plank of his second mandate.

But even lawmakers in the centrist president’s camp warned the crisis was far from over.

“We are all weakened. The president, the government, and the majority,” a senior MP in Macron’s camp, Gilles Le Gendre, told Liberation newspaper.

“It’s not because the law was adopted that we can do business as usual,” Le Gendre added.

Macron will break his silence on Wednesday with a TV interview, to “outline what happens now,” government spokesman Olivier Veran said.

“These are basically Macron’s two choices,” Eurointelligence analysts wrote in a note.

They added: “pretending that nothing major happened and letting the crisis wear itself out, or pursuing co-habitation with the willing in the assembly.

“Given Macron’s nature, we see him being more attracted to the first option. A risky bet.”

Macron will hold talks yesterday with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the heads of both houses of parliament, and lawmakers in his political camp as he seeks to plot an exit from the political crisis.

One key questio

n in the coming days will be whether Macron sticks with his existing government or looks to freshen things up, even if the potential paralysis in parliament will make governing more complicated.

“The government is finished,” said Fabien Roussel, secretary general of the Communist party.

Sacha Houlie, an MP in Macron’s camp, brushed off the possibility of a change of prime minister.

“What we expect from the President of the Republic is that he draws up an outlook … a three-, six-month calendar (of reforms),” he told Reuters, saying he hoped for proposals on issues including how businesses could be pushed to share more of their profits with workers.

But another MP in Macron’s camp, Patrick Vignal, bluntly urged the president to suspend the pension reform bill in the face of the anger it has triggered, and its deep unpopularity.

More than 200 people were arrested on Monday evening, police said, after spontaneous protests broke out hours after the no-confidence motion failed.

What may concern the executive is the large number of young people in the demonstrations.

Television images showed police firing tear gas and charging at protesters in several towns.

Some special motor bike officers were seen striking out at protesters.

Polls show the majority of French are opposed to the pension reform, as well as the government’s decision to push the bill through parliament without a vote.

 “I think this was a denial of democracy. The government passed a law which a majority of French people were against,” scriptwriter Jean Regnaud said.

“We did not give him (Macron) a mandate to pass these reforms, which are unjust.”

Strikes at petrol depots in southeastern France have led to shortages and rationing, forcing the government yesterday to order the requisitioning of staff to ensure supplies.

A nationwide day of strikes and protests is planned for Thursday.

The United States has criticised Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow, alleging it was to strengthen Russia as it struggles to make ground in its year-long war on Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Xi’s visit suggested that “China feels no responsibility to hold the Kremlin accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine”.

“Instead of even condemning them, it would rather provide diplomatic cover for Russia to continue to commit those grave crimes,” Blinken said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Chinese leader are due to hold further talks yesterday.

The two men spoke for more than four hours on Monday and enjoyed a state dinner at the Kremlin, warmly praising each other as a “dear friend”.

While China has sought to cast itself as a potential peace-maker in the Ukraine conflict, the visit also underlined an ever-closer relationship between Moscow and Beijing and was criticised by Washington as providing “diplomatic cover” for Putin.

By contrast, Xi may only speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy by telephone.

“We are waiting for confirmation,” Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

“That would be an important move. They have things to say to each other,” Vereshchuk added.

On the battlefields in Ukraine, Russia kept up air raids as well as missile and rocket strikes over a wide area in the east, the Ukrainian military said.

Ukraine said Russia’s main aim was to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the Donbas, large areas of which are already under Russian control.

Russian forces had attacked once again in the city Bakhmut – the site of the longest and bloodiest battle of the war – and other targets but had been repelled, it said.

“The occupiers are not stopping their assault on the city of Bakhmut,” it said.

Ukraine also said yesterday that an explosion in Dzhankoi city, in the north of the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula, destroyed Russian Kalibr-KN cruise missiles as they were being transported by rail.

The defence ministry’s intelligence directorate said the missiles were designed to be fired from ships in Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

It stopped short of claiming responsibility for the blast.

Moscow has been publicly promoting plans for a visit by Xi, its most powerful ally in the face of Western opposition to the war, for months.

Xi has sought to portray Beijing as a peacemaker in Ukraine even as he deepens economic ties with Moscow.

The Chinese proposal has been largely dismissed in the West as a ploy to buy Putin time to regroup his forces and solidify his grip on occupied land.

Ukrainian and Western officials fear any ceasefire would merely freeze the front lines, handing Russia an advantage as it struggles to make headway following a series of setbacks since launching its invasion in February last year.

White House spokesman John Kirby said Xi should use his influence to press Putin to withdraw troops from Ukraine.

The timing of Xi’s visit was also a boost to Putin as it came just days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president accusing him of war crimes for deporting children from Ukraine.

Denying the charges, Moscow said it has taken in orphans to protect them.

Beijing said the warrant reflected double standards.

Foreign policy analysts said while Putin would be looking for strong support from Xi over Ukraine, they doubted his Moscow visit would result in any military backing.

Washington has said in recent weeks it fears China might arm Russia, a plan Beijing has denied.

Kyiv, which says the war cannot end until Russia pulls out its troops, cautiously welcomed Beijing’s peace proposal when it was announced last month.

Zelenskiy has also said that China arming Russia could lead to World War Three.

While Putin hosted the Chinese president, Japanese broadcaster NHK showed Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida boarding a train at a Polish border town bound for Kyiv, to deliver a message of solidarity and support for Ukraine.

Kishida was set to meet with Zelenskiy, Japan said.

Several European Union countries agreed in Brussels on Monday to jointly buy 1 million rounds of 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine.

Both sides fire thousands of rounds per day in the war of attrition.

The United States announced its latest military aid package, worth $350 million, including more ammunition for HIMARS rocket launchers, howitzers, and Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, plus HARM missiles, anti-tank weapons, and river boats. (Reuters/NAN)

French, U.S. hostages released after years of captivity in West Africa

French journalist Olivier Dubois was hugged by emotional reporters at a briefing in Niger on Monday announcing the release of him and U.S. aid worker Jeffery Woodke.

They had been held hostage in West Africa for years by Islamist militants.

Dubois was kidnapped in Mali in 2021. Woodke was kidnapped in neighbouring Niger in 2016.

Dubois had appeared in a video last August urging authorities to do everything they could to free him from his captors, according to Reuters/NAN.

Some journalists embraced him upon arrival at the briefing at the airport in the capital Niamey, moved by the sight of their peer, who worked for Liberation and Le Point magazine.

“It’s huge for me to be here today,” said Dubois, smiling as he answered questions.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all. I feel tired but I’m well,” he added.

Woodke, a Christian humanitarian worker, thanked God as well as the Nigerien, U.S., and French authorities for helping with his rescue.

“Greetings to my family,” he said at the briefing.

Flanked by the two men, Niger’s interior minister Hamadou Adamou Souley told journalists: “After several months of efforts, Nigerien authorities obtained the liberation of the two hostages from the hands of (JNIM), an active terrorist group in West Africa and the Sahel.”

JNIM is a West Africa-based affiliate of al Qaeda.

French President Emmanuel Macron thanked Niger for its help in securing Dubois’ release.

“I have just spoken to Olivier Dubois: he is in good health,” Macron said on Twitter.

The circumstances of the two men’s release were not immediately clear.

A senior U.S. official said there were no direct negotiations with the militant organisation that held Woodke, and no ransom or so-called quid pro quo was part of his release.

Speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, the official said it was not entirely clear where Woodke was held during his captivity but that he was known to have been in multiple locations and multiple countries.

Woodke was released outside of Niger, the senior administration official said, adding that Niger was part of efforts that helped free a second U.S. citizen held by the same network.

A U.S. State Department official identified that hostage as American Catholic nun Suellen Tennyson, kidnapped in northern Burkina Faso in April last year and freed in August.

“I’m gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Twitter.

“The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him,” Sullivan added.

Kidnappings are a relatively common tactic by Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have gained ground across the Sahel region over the past decade, killing thousands and uprooting over two million people in the process.

Those groups have repeatedly declared French citizens in West Africa to be targeted since a 2013 military intervention by France drove them back a year earlier.

This is partly because of perceptions that the French government is prepared to pay ransoms to secure their release.

France has repeatedly denied this.

United States Assistant Secretary of Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Ramin Toloui, at a briefing by the Washington Foreign Press Center, spoke on the CHIPS and Science Act’s International Technology Security and Innovation Fund. Excepts from United States Bureau Chief OLUKOREDE YISHAU:

The ITSI Fund

Last year President Biden signed a historic piece of bipartisan legislation, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. Through tax credits and more than $50 billion in direct investments, the CHIPS Act is aimed at securing American technological leadership through a renaissance in high-tech manufacturing and research and development.

The U.S. is not alone in its goal to strengthen global supply chain resilience with a particular focus on semiconductors. Economies around the world are making investments in semiconductor production, and we continue to work closely with our partners on diversifying and growing the global semiconductor ecosystem.

Why this is important

 Because semiconductors and telecommunications networks are critical sectors for economic prosperity and the well-being of people in the United States and around the world. We learned during the COVID pandemic how disruptions in semiconductor supply chains had the potential to affect key sectors that impact everyone, in everything from cars to medical devices. And that reliance on semiconductors will only grow over time as more and more sectors of the economy harness the power of digital technology to increase productivity and improve the quality of goods and services.

Global economic security and stability hinges on our ability to create robust and reliable semiconductor supply chains, prevent misuse or exploitation of semiconductor technology, and develop and deploy secure and trustworthy information and communications technology in networks and services.

Recognizing that global cooperation is essential to realizing the goals of the CHIPS Act, Congress also appropriated in the Act $500 million over five years to the Department of State for the International Technology Security and Innovation Fund, or the ITSI Fund. I’m delighted to announce that yesterday the State Department released the outline of its strategy for implementing the ITSI Fund. This strategy has two parts relating to, first, semiconductors, and second, information technology and communication networks and services.

On semiconductors, State will use the ITSI Fund to work collaboratively with our partners and allies on four priority areas of work that will strengthen the resilience, diversity, and security of global semiconductor supply chains. The first area of focus is securing and diversifying the sources of critical material inputs that are needed in microchip fabrication. This is the so-called upstream component of the semiconductor supply chain. Semiconductor fabrication requires reliable access to critical minerals such as cobalt, aluminum, arsenic, copper, and rare earth elements. We want to bring new, more diverse and resilient mining, refining, processing, and recycling capability online to supply global chip production, including in the United States.

The second area of focus is diversifying and ensuring the resilience of the later downstream elements and activities of the semiconductor supply chain – namely, the assembly, testing, and packaging of microchips that is needed to take those pieces of silicon and put them into the products that we use. As the United States ramps up its own fabrication, we want to make sure that there is a diversity and robustness in these downstream elements of the supply chain, particularly in the Indo-Pacific and the Americas.

The third area of focus is strengthening the policy coordination with our allies and partners. The goal here is to ensure complementarity in our respective approaches to industry incentives, as well as improve collaboration during supply chain disruptions.

The fourth area of focus is protecting national security. The goal here is to strengthen mechanisms to mitigate the risks, the national security risks that semiconductors can pose through collaboration with our international partners on export controls and licensing policies.

Collaboration

No single country can onshore or conduct all the essential activities in the modern semiconductor supply chain. Collaboration with our allies and partners is critical to realizing the ambitious goals of the CHIPS Act. The United States looks forward to accelerating our work in this regard under the ITSI Fund.

Mineral Security Partnership

There is definitely connection with the critical minerals that are required for electric vehicles, battery technology, and the critical minerals in the semiconductor space. There, of course, are differences, but there is overlap. And at the State Department, we are participating in something called the Mineral Security Partnership, which includes not only partners in Europe, but also in African countries to advance this objective of ensuring that we have resilient and diversified supply chains not only in the critical minerals that are required for electric vehicles, but also in the critical minerals that are required in the area of semiconductors.

The key objective

The key objective is to learn some of the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, which showed that supply chains globally are quite vulnerable to disruption, not only in the area of semiconductors and technology, but supply chains of various kinds. And so I think that a strong consensus emerged, not only among governments but also in the industry, that more attention needs to be paid to diversifying those supply chains, to making sure that there aren’t bottlenecks, there aren’t particular parts of the supply chain which leave it vulnerable to disruptions.

And so what we’re discussing today in the context of the ITSI Fund is the effort to try to diversify the global supply chains related to semiconductors, and to try to undertake activities that make both the upstream and the downstream components of the semiconductor supply chain more resilient to future shocks.

Supply chains vulnerabilities

I think it’s important to note that countries around the world have noted the vulnerabilities of supply chains, particularly in semiconductors. And we’re seeing initiatives not only in the United States, like the CHIPS Act, but it’s under discussion in the EU, in Korea, in various countries. What are the ways in which the semiconductor industry can be supported?

And one of the objectives that we have in our diplomacy, and one of the areas that will be supported by the funds in the ITSI Fund, is the continued dialogues and the expansion of those dialogues with our key allies and partners to ensure that the approaches that we’re taking in semiconductors are complementary to one another, and that we are acting in a way that is going to achieve our shared goal of having more resilient, diversified, secure semiconductor supply chains in the future.

Now, the Department of Commerce is responsible for administering the program of production incentives as part of the CHIPS Act. And I should underscore, though, there that the access to the CHIPS Act funding and the applications of the various guidelines is something that is – applies equally to U.S. applicants and foreign company applicants. And so it’s very important, and the Commerce Department has emphasized, that we welcome foreign investment. And in fact, many of the investments that have been announced to expand semiconductor production capacity in the United States have been, in fact, from foreign firms.

Investments in supply chains

I think that your question points to the fact that countries around the world, as I mentioned, are making investments in the semiconductor supply chain. And of course, different countries, depending upon how they’re situated, are making different kinds of investments, are focused on different parts of the supply chain. But this is something that countries around the world are contemplating right now and some are acting on.

I think what is very important about the CHIPS Act is really what we are here to discuss today, which is the fact that our Congress, in appropriating the CHIPS Act funding, was not only focused on the manufacturing in the United States and fabricating in the United States, but specifically set aside $500 million for the purpose of deepening these international connections, recognizing that this is a global semiconductor supply chain, and to achieve our shared objective of having a resilient semiconductor supply chain in the future that will be more resistant to the kinds of shocks that we experienced during COVID-19, that it requires that sort of international cooperation. And certainly, we are very committed to that. We at the State Department will be playing a leading role in conducting that diplomacy to give effect to this component of the CHIPS Act.

U.S. as destination for investments

  In terms of the attractiveness of the United States as a destination for investment, I think that the recent announcements of investments of various kinds – whether that’s in semiconductors or clean energy, et cetera – really underscores the attractiveness of the United States as a destination for investment. And as I mentioned, and it is incredibly important in the context of the CHIPS Act, that the program that the Commerce Department is administering of production incentives is something which is available to firms –not just American firms, but foreign firms. And the set of requirements and guidelines that the Commerce Department released at the end of February describe the application process and the constraints that would apply to applicants both foreign and domestic. And so that’s very important.

And as I mentioned, a lot of the significant investments that have been announced in the last several months are from foreign firms, and we very much welcome that because this industry by its nature is a global industry and it requires this connectivity across borders. And the CHIPS Act is designed in a way that explicitly recognizes this through the $500 million that the – that Congress particularly identified for the purpose of deepening these international partnerships which are necessary to achieve our common goal of a secure, resilient, global semiconductor supply chain.

Cooperation on semiconductors

There are a number of different ways in which the State Department is seeking to advance our diplomacy with respect to cooperation on semiconductors. We have a number of bilateral dialogues that this is included in, and it’s also included in some formal dialogues such as the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, or TTC.

One – and one of the things that we are trying to do in all of these dialogues is – well, there are a couple of key objectives that we have. And the first objective is to share information about our respective programs to try to incentivize production and make sure that what the United States is doing is well understood by our partners and that we have an understanding of what our partners are doing. And the purpose here is because, again, of this recognition that we have a global semiconductor supply chain, and we don’t want – in particular with our partners and allies – our policies to be working at cross purposes. And we also want to avoid a situation where we have something like a subsidy race, where there are large transfers to the private sector that aren’t advancing our goal of creating a more diverse and secure semiconductor supply chain in the future.

And the second – one of the other key objectives that we have in these discussions is to try to deepen the cooperation we have in identifying potential supply chain disruptions. And we’re calling this sort of an early warning exercise. So how can we, through collaboration – our government-to-government collaboration and in addition through dialogues with the private sector – try to identify potential interruptions that could affect the productive process in other industries. So, for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain that then came back and affected the auto industry or the medical device industry.

And so through the variety of discussions we have with the – our European partners, our partners in Asia, these are the two key objectives that we have to advance.