By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Wednesday will see the chief executives from Intel (NASDAQ;) and Micron(NASDAQ:), argue for U.S. government subsidies that boost semiconductor production before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.

Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s Chief Executive Officer will inform the committee that “there is an urgent requirement for the federal government incentivize greater private sector investment in America to enable a resilient semiconductor ecosystem.” This testimony was previously not reported by Reuters.

Micron Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra says in his written testimony that approving $52 billion for chips “will kick start investment in workforce development, R&D, innovation, and expansion of manufacturing in the near term.”

The persistent shortage of chips in electronics and automotive manufacturing has caused production to be disrupted. Some firms have had to cut back on production.

The Senate and House passed legislation authorizing $52 billion worth of chip subsidies. This is known as the CHIPS Act. However, they differ in other provisions that aim to boost the U.S.’s competitiveness with China.

On Tuesday, Gina Raimondo (Commerce Secretary) met with Senators to demand immediate action for chips.

Raimondo stated that America’s current situation is critical. We must reduce our dependence on Taiwanese chips, and that can be done by making more American chips.

Mehrotra will ask Congress for the “refundable tax credit… to provide a long-term incentive to invigorate domestic production in the semiconductor sector.”

Micron has announced plans to invest more than $150 billion globally over the next decade in leading-edge memory manufacturing and R&D and is considering building U.S. new fabs.

Mehrotra stated that building these new American fabs requires close collaboration with both federal and state policies. She also added, “We expect that substantial federal funding will likely be necessary to make the mega-fab economically viable.”

Intel has announced that it will invest $20 billion to construct two more mega fabs in Ohio. The investment could lead to up to eight megafabs.

Gelsinger testifies that the CHIPS Act would support up to $100 billion.

Lam Research’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Archer will inform lawmakers that new U.S. manufacturing fabs are “will depend upon semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and materials.”

Archer states that Commerce Department grants should “provide incentives across all value chains” and “support an “all of-ecosystem approach.”

Preston Feight, chief executive officer of PACCAR (NASDAQ), will speak to the committee about how the trucking sector has had to sometimes pay traders “20-30 times” what it costs for chips.

Feight’s testimony suggested that companies applying for CHIPS Act funding should meet the demands of American critical business, such as truck makers, before they can be approved to receive U.S. tax dollars.