WASHINGTON, May 27, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today commented on an
agreement reached among global semiconductor industry leaders at
the 19th annual meeting of the World Semiconductor Council (WSC) in
Hangzhou, China last week on a
series of policy proposals to strengthen the industry through
greater international cooperation. The WSC is a worldwide body of
semiconductor industry executives from China, Chinese Taipei, Europe, Japan, Korea, and the United States that meets annually to
address issues of global concern to the semiconductor industry.
Recommendations from this year's meeting are included in the 2015
WSC Joint Statement.
"The World Semiconductor Council is a unique and effective forum
for international collaboration, and its accomplishments on behalf
of the global semiconductor industry are unrivaled by groups in
other industries," said Ajit
Manocha, 2015 WSC chairman of the U.S. delegation and former
CEO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "The initiatives outlined in the 2015 Joint
Statement will help enable more effective communication,
cooperation, and competition in the global semiconductor industry.
I'm especially encouraged the WSC has remained steadfast in its
commitment to achieve duty-free treatment for next-generation
semiconductors through expansion of the Information Technology
Agreement, which would be the most commercially meaningful trade
agreement for the global technology industry in nearly two
decades."
The WSC seeks expanded coverage in the Information Technology
Agreement (ITA) for new and innovative semiconductor products,
including multi-component semiconductors (MCOs). An expanded ITA –
estimated to cover $1 trillion in
global sales of tech products – would provide the first opportunity
to include in the existing agreement newly developed products
resulting from the dynamic technological developments in the
information technology sector since 1996, when the ITA was
originally concluded. MCOs are an important new growth market for
the semiconductor industry. Even now, the inclusion of MCOs in an
expanded ITA would save the industry $150 to
$300 million in global annual tariffs.
The WSC meeting also featured dialogue with China's Ministry of Industry and Information
Technology on China's
semiconductor industry support policies and investment funds. The
WSC reaffirmed its view that government action related to such
policies should be guided by market-based principles, and committed
to continuing dialogue with relevant governments to promote fair,
transparent, market-based, and non-discriminatory practices with
regard to government support programs.
Industry leaders also made significant progress on the following
initiatives:
- Encryption – Deepened industry-government dialogue to
work toward an improved global regulatory environment for products
with encryption based on principles of market access, transparency,
adoption of international standards, and non-discriminatory and
open procedures and rules.
- Protection of Intellectual Property – Adoption of a
joint set of "core" elements intended to serve as an international
norm for national trade secret protection legislation. Continued
progress on the WSC initiative to improve patent quality, and
support for changes to domestic laws to simplify inventor
remuneration practices.
- Customs and Trade Facilitation – Support for expeditious
ratification and implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation
Agreement to facilitate free and open markets, reduce barriers to
trade, and improve business conditions that will benefit
governments, industry and consumers.
- Anti-counterfeiting – Strengthened cooperation with
global customs and law enforcement agencies to combat semiconductor
counterfeiting.
- Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) – Continued success
in reducing the industry's PFC (perfluorocompound) emissions and
calling on Governments/Authorities to take into account the
industry's use and management practices when regulating essential
chemicals.
- Conflict Minerals – Utilization of common,
industry-developed tools to achieve a conflict-free supply
chain.
- Growth Initiative – Promotion of semiconductor-enabled
energy efficiency through the inclusion of semiconductor products
in the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA).
- Tax – Reduction of the potentially harmful impact of the
OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPs) Action Plan by
adopting measures to strengthen dispute settlement procedures and
protect corporate information provided to governments in the master
file and country-by-country reports.
Industry representatives from the six regions will deliver these
recommendations to an annual meeting of their governments, called
the Governments and Authorities Meeting on Semiconductors (GAMS),
which will take place in San
Francisco in October. The GAMS meeting represents an
opportunity for industry to convey the importance of implementing
the recommendations and explore areas of mutual interest with
governments and authorities worldwide.
"The semiconductor industry fuels innovation, job creation, and
economic growth in the United
States and around the world," said Greg Lang, president and CEO of PMC. "Ours is a
global industry with global challenges, and we must work
collaboratively with our international counterparts to solve
problems and ensure fair and open competition. The agreement
reached by the World Semiconductor Council is a clear step forward
that will help open markets, boost innovation, and increase
consumers' access to cutting edge semiconductor technologies."
For more information on the Semiconductor Industry Association,
visit www.semiconductors.org.
For more information on the World Semiconductor Council, visit
www.semiconductorcouncil.org.
About SIA
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is the voice of the
U.S. semiconductor industry, one of America's top export industries
and a key driver of America's economic strength, national security
and global competitiveness. Semiconductors – microchips that
control all modern electronics – enable the systems and products we
use to work, communicate, travel, entertain, harness energy, treat
illness, and make new scientific discoveries. The semiconductor
industry directly employs nearly a quarter of a million people in
the U.S. In 2014, U.S. semiconductor company sales totaled
$173 billion, and semiconductors make
the global trillion dollar electronics industry possible. Founded
in 1977 by five microelectronics pioneers, SIA unites companies
that account for 80 percent of America's semiconductor production.
Through this coalition, SIA seeks to strengthen U.S. leadership of
semiconductor design and manufacturing by working with Congress,
the Administration and other key industry stakeholders to encourage
policies and regulations that fuel innovation, propel business and
drive international competition. Learn more at
www.semiconductors.org.
Media Contact
Dan
Rosso
Semiconductor Industry
Association
drosso@semiconductors.org
202-446-1719
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SOURCE Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)