United States congressional leaders sought to forge a $52 billion bipartisan deal to subsidise semiconductor manufacturing in the country, so as to boost American competitiveness with Chinese technology.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, met House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to try to hammer out a compromise.
"We're working on it now," Schumer said as he headed into the meeting.
A persistent shortage of chips has disrupted the vehicle and electronics industries, forcing some firms to scale back production.
The two legislative chambers have passed similar bills but key differences must be resolved.
Legislation passed in June 2021 in the Senate included US$52 billion for chips subsidies and authorised another US$200 billion to boost US scientific and technological innovation to compete with China.
The House version, passed in February, is nearly 3,000 pages long and includes a number of trade proposals not in the Senate bill.
Some House provisions are likely to be removed for lack of approval in the Senate, officials said.
Democrats have warned that major investments in new US chip production could be jeopardised without action from Congress.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner told Reuters last week "the clock is ticking."
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