Us Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo warned on May 31 that a global shortage of critical chips is likely to persist through 2023 and beyond, AFP reported.

Mr. Raimondo said there was no sign that the chip shortage would ease significantly next year, the report said. During her visit to South Korea, Ms. Raimondo said she had spoken with top chipmakers about the shortage, and none of them expected it to ease until at least late 2023 or even early 2024.

Mr Raimondo repeated his call for Congress to act swiftly to fund legislation aimed at boosting the US chip manufacturing industry. Other countries have subsidy programs, and if Congress doesn't act quickly, major chipmakers like Intel, Samsung and Micron could choose to expand outside the U.S., creating serious problems, Mr. Raimondo said.

Agence France-Presse reported that the US House of Representatives and Senate have each passed a $52 billion chip industry promotion bill to provide funding for chip development and manufacturing in the US. But the House and Senate have yet to agree on a final version of the legislation.

The pandemic has disrupted production at some chip suppliers and caused a surge in demand for cars and electronics, all of which require large quantities of chips, and shortages are widespread around the world.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said at the recently concluded Davos forum that a shortage of advanced chipmaking equipment could hamper its global expansion plans. Intel is now planning to build new chip plants in the U.S. and Europe.

The auto industry is one of the hardest hit by the chip shortage. Because of the chip shortage, many automakers have been forced to make sustained cutbacks, hurting production and sales.

Meanwhile, the prices of products that rely on chip supplies continue to rise. Large chipmakers such as TSMC, Samsung and Intel are all considering further price increases for their chip products, CNBC reported, citing analysts. Chipmakers raised prices by 10 to 20 percent last year and are expected to raise prices again this year, but at a lower rate, perhaps 5 to 7 percent, according to Bain analyst Peter Hambury. Mr Hambury said rising costs, such as a 10-20 per cent rise in the cost of the chemicals used to make chips, were one reason chipmakers were raising prices, as were Labour shortages and rising wages.