A massive semiconductor chip shortage has led to an estimated $210 billion in lost sales in the automotive industry alone this year as carmakers struggle to meet the needs of consumers. Just yesterday, Toyota announced that the month of October saw a 26% drop in production compared with last year, leading to 20% fewer global sales. It’s something that’s clearly on the mind of U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who believes the country is at an “inflection point” when it comes to boosting semiconductor production in the U.S. as the Biden administration also pushes for a goal of 50% of new cars being manufactured in the country to be electric vehicles by 2030. Raimondo spoke with reporters ahead of a series of events she attended in Detroit on Monday, including a roundtable with lawmakers at UAW Region 1A headquarters. “We're at an inflection point and we have to make choices,« Raimondo said. »If we're serious about restoring American leadership in the global economy, we have to start by rebuilding our semiconductor industry so we can meet the demands of this moment.” Producing semiconductor chips, Raimondo said, is “necessary for our American economic competitiveness, it's necessary if we're going to meet our climate change goals, and it's necessary to create jobs.” One way to get there is by passing the CHIPS Act, a bill that allocates $52 billion to boost the domestic semiconductor manufacturing sector. Introduced last year, the bill was passed by the Senate in June but has yet to be taken up by the House. Read more