The U.S. supply of computer chips has reached such alarmingly low levels that countless American manufacturers are now at a heightened risk of shutting down, the Biden administration*announced this week.
The plethora of American companies that use semiconductors — such as automakers, medical device manufacturers, and other electronic device producers — now have just five days of inventory on shelves, compared to 40 days in 2019.
The supply shortage has U.S. manufacturing plants in a vulnerable state.
"If a COVID outbreak, a natural disaster, or political instability disrupts a foreign semiconductor facility for even just a few weeks, it has the potential to shut down a manufacturing facility in the U.S., putting American workers and their families at risk," the Commerce Department noted in a press release.
