Cornyn: U.S. Must Lead Global Chip and Tech Revolution to Counter China Threat

WASHINGTON, DC — Pointing to a fast-approaching 2027 timeline for a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, U.S. Senator John Cornyn warned colleagues on the Senate floor that the nation's strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party has reached its most critical nexus in history.

In a sweeping floor speech, the Texas Republican detailed the critical vulnerabilities facing the United States due to its reliance on foreign manufacturing for advanced semiconductors, critical minerals, and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). He emphasized that the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act has laid a foundation for "reshoring" these vital industries, with Texas leading the charge.

"We allowed them to join the World Trade Organization, naively hoping... that they would somehow adopt Western principles of freedom and democracy," Cornyn said, referring to the West's historical approach to the People's Republic of China. "But that was a naive hope, and it didn't happen. To the contrary, China benefited from this access to global markets and became a major world economy, but they actively resisted Western standards as we know now."

The Semiconductor Race and the 2027 Threat

Cornyn emphasized that control over the future of the global economy will ultimately come down to which nation secures its highly vulnerable tech supply chains. He noted that in 1990, the United States produced nearly 40 percent of the world’s semiconductors. Today, that share has plummeted to less than 10 percent, while more than 90 percent of the world's most advanced chips are manufactured in East Asia—primarily Taiwan and South Korea.

The geographic concentration creates an acute national security crisis, Cornyn argued, citing warnings from Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding Taiwan.

"We should take President Xi at his word when he said that China plans to 'reincorporate' Taiwan by 2027," Cornyn warned. "He's told the People's Liberation Army to be ready for that by 2027."

Should an invasion succeed, Cornyn noted that Beijing could cut off the U.S. from advanced chips manufactured by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), bringing American defense production—including advanced fifth-generation F-35 fighters and missile defense systems—to a "grinding halt at the snap of a finger."

Economic Impact: Cornyn cited a US-Taiwan Business Council report warning that a significant shock to semiconductor delivery would trigger an economic recession on par with the 2009 global financial crisis or the 2020 pandemic.

Beyond Chips: Rare Earths and Pharmaceuticals

The Texas senator made it clear that America's supply chain vulnerabilities extend far beyond microchips. He accused China of building an "empire of industrial inputs on the back of forced labor and diplomatic manipulation," using initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative to monopolize rare earth elements in Africa and Latin America.

"There's only two places in the United States that actually produce the motors that are made from magnets that are produced from rare earths, and 90 percent of it is done in China," Cornyn said.

Furthermore, Cornyn sounded the alarm on the domestic supply of medications, noting that China has cornered the market on raw materials that make up active pharmaceutical ingredients. "Can you imagine the United States and other countries around the world dependent on China to produce the medications that we take on a regular basis to keep us healthy and cure disease? But that's where we are right now."

Texas Capitalizing on the "Reshoring" Boom

While acknowledging that the federal government had been "asleep at the switch" until global shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic forced a reckoning, Cornyn pointed to the CHIPS for America Act—legislation he co-authored in 2020 with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)—as a massive turning point.

The subsequent funding through the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act provided nearly $40 billion in manufacturing incentives and $13 billion for research and workforce development. This federal injection has triggered a massive economic boom in Texas, which has been further amplified by state-level legislation.

Texas Semiconductor Footprint By The Numbers

Cornyn credited Governor Greg Abbott’s signing of the Texas Chips Act in 2023—which established the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium and Fund—with ensuring the Lone Star State capitalizes on federal momentum.

"In the 19th century, the key ingredient of military power was gunpowder. In the 20th century, it was petroleum, and now it's semiconductors," Cornyn said, quoting William Inboden, Provost at the University of Texas.

Concluding his remarks, Cornyn called for continued domestic fortitude to maintain American dominance over the Chinese Communist Party. "I want to make sure that future generations can live in a world where the U.S., not the Chinese Communist Party, remains dominant, and in a world where we continue to lead from a framework of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law."

Editor's Note: News reporter Luis Montoya assisted with this story.