US, EU Must Avoid Subsidy Race Amid Chip Shortage: EU’s Vestager

European Commission Vice-President in charge of Europe Fit for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager talks at the start of a meeting of the College of Commissioners at the Berlaymont, in Brussels, Belgium on Nov. 10, 2021. Stephanie Lecocq/Pool via Reuters

The United States and the European Union must avoid a subsidy race as they rush to support semiconductor production amid a global chip shortage, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on Friday.

“We really need to avoid a subsidy race, a race that leaves everyone poorer off,” Vestager said in a speech at the University of Leuven, warning taxpayers would have to fund this.