U.S. House Passes Chips Bill as Republicans Air Soft-on-China Gripes

China’s rising economic power and global influence have been a focus for three successive presidential administrations. Photo: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — The House passed an expansive bill that would invest tens of billions in the U.S. tech sector, but Republican objections that it’s too weak on China threaten what Democrats hoped would be a quick election-year win.

The bill started as a bipartisan push to bolster U.S. manufacturing and research, and ease the dependence on China for semiconductors, but it became mired in long-standing partisanship over U.S. policy on China.