Flashpoint: Chips and Chains: Semiconductors Global Supply Chain with Keith Krach | Mainstage

There is an intersection between technology and U.S. foreign policy. Given today’s interconnectedness, technology development needs to support democracy. The semiconductor industry, underpinning innovation and essential to global manufacturing, offers a crucial space for progress. Opening the session, Mung Chiang, Founding Director of the Center for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University and Engineering Dean and Executive Vice President, described how semiconductors are crucial to a new era of “chip democracy”. 

A focus on semiconductors could result in a transformational approach to diplomacy, said Keith Krach, Advisory Board Chair, Center for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University and Former U.S. Under Secretary of State. As China ramps up its geopolitical competition, developing and operationalizing a global economic security strategy will help drive economic growth, maximize national security, and combat Chinese Communist Party aggression. China’s biggest weakness, Krach continued, is the lack of trust from other countries. When it looked like Huawei would own 5G, Krach—then U.S. Under Secretary of State—developed a strategy that would rally allies and partners, leverage the innovation and resources of the private sector, and amplify the moral high ground of democratic voters.

From his many years in Silicon Valley, Krach understands that trust is a sacrosanct part of the technology business. Investing in American businesses to move semiconductor production back to the Americas and Europe will require a multidimensional go-to-market strategy that includes both government and private industry. This non-partisan approach provided unity and continuity between Republican and Democratic administrations.

• Trust is the central component in both business and foreign policy. The U.S. remains more trusted around the world than China.
• Moving the semiconductor manufacturing industry back to the U.S. and its allied countries will provide greater geopolitical security in the face of China’s ascendance.