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TradeGlobal issues

The Microchip War

November 7, 2023

Computers, cars, mobile phones, toasters: countless everyday objects contain microchips.

https://p.dw.com/p/4XajX
Stills aus Doku Die Megamacht der Mikrochips
Image: Java
Stills aus Doku Die Megamacht der Mikrochips
Image: Java

They’re tiny, unremarkable and cheap, but since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, they’ve been at the center of a political and industrial tug of war.

Against the backdrop of the trade war between China and the US, "The Microchip War" spotlights all the aspects of this conflict. In the film, the world’s most influential actors in this industrial sector weigh in.

 

Stills aus Doku Die Megamacht der Mikrochips
Image: Java

 

No one is in any doubt that microprocessors are as strategically important as oil. The battle over microchips could potentially redefine the geopolitical world order. In the United States and Europe, fears over a microprocessor shortage have led to a flood of investment pledges.

 

 

Stills aus Doku Die Megamacht der Mikrochips
Image: Java

After ceding microchip production to Asia in the 1990s, market leaders in the West are now trying to bring production back home and thereby regain control of the production chain. 

This resulted in the adoption of new legislation in 2022: the European Chips Act initiated by the EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen and - in response to this - the American "Chip and Science Act" initiated by Joe Biden.

 

Stills aus Doku Die Megamacht der Mikrochips
Image: Java

 

China, the US, Europe: major global powers fighting over tiny microchips. Pandemic and resource scarcity have fueled the desire for industrial reconquest and economic superiority.

But is this reindustrialization actually possible? Can the West challenge the foundations of globalization in this way?

 

 

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

TUE 21.11.2023 – 01:15 UTC
TUE 21.11.2023 – 04:15 UTC
TUE 21.11.2023 – 18:15 UTC
WED 22.11.2023 – 09:15 UTC
THU 23.11.2023 – 12:15 UTC
SAT 25.11.2023 – 08:15 UTC
SUN 26.11.2023 – 13:15 UTC

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