The pandemic, with its logistical disruptions, has underlined the urgency of forming regional industrial alliances, so the development of the local semiconductor industry was included in the list of priority issues for discussion at the North American Leaders' Summit (NALS). The US, Canada and Mexico are going to coordinate their efforts in this area.

The US administration intends at a separate event earlier this year to discuss with its neighbors on the continent the possibilities of investments in the semiconductor industry of each of the three countries. As you know, last year the US authorities already approved a package of measures to support the national semiconductor industry, allocating more than $52 billion to subsidize it in terms of building enterprises for the production of chips.

As expected, Mexico is going to develop on its territory enterprises that would specialize in the packaging and testing of semiconductor chips, as well as their development. The US authorities also tried to consolidate their efforts to develop the production of lithium batteries for electric vehicles with the relevant initiatives of their Mexican colleagues. The country is the tenth richest in the world in terms of lithium reserves, recently the Mexican authorities decided to nationalize all enterprises involved in its mining. Only the high degree of dependence of the Mexican industry on fossil energy sources causes embarrassment for American partners.

At this week's summit, representatives from three North American countries agreed to reduce methane emissions by 15% by 2030 from 2020 levels, as well as create a North American clean hydrogen market and install more electric vehicle charging stations along their borders. In Joseph Biden's work program, the next step is a visit to Japan, where the US president intends to discuss security and sanctions restrictions in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.