<p style="text-align: center;"><img title="1612421622121125.jpg" alt="8.jpg" src="/ueditor/php/upload/image/20210204/1612421622121125.jpg"/></p><p>&nbsp;A group of 15 U.S. senators on Tuesday including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican John Cornyn urged the&nbsp;White House&nbsp;to work with Congress to address the global semiconductor shortage that is hampering auto manufacturing.<br/><br/>The senators, from key auto states like Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and South Carolina, in a letter to the White House warned the &quot;shortage threatens our post-pandemic economic recovery.&quot;<br/><br/>Automakers around the world are shutting assembly lines because of problems in the delivery of&nbsp;semiconductors, which have been exacerbated in some cases by the former Trump administration&#39;s actions against Chinese chip factories.</p><p><br/></p><p>The shortage has impacted Volkswagen, Ford Motor Co, Subaru Corp, Toyota Motor Corp,&nbsp;Nissan&nbsp;Motor Co Ltd,&nbsp;Fiat Chrysler Automobiles&nbsp;and other car makers.<br/><br/>&quot;We believe that the incoming administration can continue to play a helpful role in alleviating the worst impacts of the shortage on American workers,&quot; the senators wrote.<br/><br/>A U.S. spokeswoman for Nissan said Tuesday the automaker made some short-term production adjustments because of the shortage &quot;starting with three non-production days on the truck line at our Canton, Mississippi, facility.&quot;<br/><br/>The senators, including auto caucus chairs Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Rob Portman, urged the White House &quot;to support efforts to secure the necessary funding to swiftly implement the semiconductor-related provisions in the most recent National Defense Authorization Act, which would boost the production of semiconductor manufacturing and incent the domestic production of semiconductors in the future.&quot;<br/><br/>Matt Blunt, who heads the American Automotive Policy Council representing U.S. automakers, praised the senators &quot;who recognize it is a significant challenge for the auto sector.&quot;<br/><br/>The White House did not immediately comment.<br/><br/>Automakers around the world are adjusting assembly lines caused by the shortages and have cut some production, caused by manufacturing delays that some semiconductor makers blame on a faster-than expected recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.<br/><br/>In 2019, automotive groups accounted for roughly a tenth of the $429 billion semiconductor market, according to McKinsey.</p>