| U.S. President Joe Biden holds up a silicon wafer in a meeting with CEOs of the world's leading tech companies held at the White House in Washington, D.C., April 12. Yonhap |
By Kim Bo-eun
Attention is growing on a third meeting on measures to deal with the global shortage of semiconductors to be held at the White House, Sept. 23.
Samsung Electronics, along with other businesses, took part in the first and second meetings hosted at the U.S. presidential office in April and May, and is expected to participate in the third
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese will host the meeting, according to the Department of Commerce.
However, a Samsung official said, Friday: "We do not know of the company having received any notifications."
Disruptions in chip supply have been extended, due to the continued spread of COVID-19 variants. This, in turn, has affected the global production of automobiles and smartphones.
U.S. President Jo Biden presided over the meeting in April, where he called on chipmakers and auto manufacturers and other businesses to help resolve supply chain issues. Executives of 19 companies were present, including GM, Ford, Stellantis, Samsung, TSMC, Globalfoundries, AT&T and Google-parent Alphabet.
The third meeting is set to invite major firms representing the same sectors.
Samsung is in the final stages of deciding on the location for its second foundry plant in the U.S. The chipmaker is expected to choose Taylor City in Texas, after local authorities there offered a substantial incentive package.
The company will invest $17 billion into the new fabrication plant, and attention is mounting on whether the meeting will accelerate Samsung's announcement of its investment choice. The Biden administration is seeking to attract production facilities for key items such as semiconductors and EV batteries to the U.S. as a means to secure a stable supply.