One of the facilities Samsung is building will be the size of 11 football fields, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. The new investment will create thousands of jobs, the White House said.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which makes more than 90% of world's most advanced chips, also halted production, but it plans to resume chipmaking overnight.
President Biden was in the battleground state of Arizona to make the biggest announcement yet in his plan to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to America.
The regulator says the deal would give the combined company too much power, hurt competition and raise prices for consumers. It comes as a global shortage of chips wreaks havoc on the economy.
The global shortage of chips could hurt production of iPads and Macs, costing Apple $3 billion to $4 billion in revenue, in what is the latest example of a company being hit by supply constraints.
The microchips used in cars are in short supply. Taiwanese Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua tells NPR that Taiwan's cutting-edge chipmakers have ramped up production to meet auto industry demand.
Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was supposed to be one of China's most advanced chipmakers. Now it's bankrupt — a big flop at a time when the country seeks technological self-reliance.
