Semiconductor Industry Applauds U.S. - China World Trade Organization Announcement

Business Wire, Nov 15, 1999

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 1999--

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) commented on today's announcement that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and China have reached an agreement on China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"Our industry is encouraged that the U.S. and China have reached this agreement and we are hopeful that this pact will serve as a first step to increase U.S. exports and help expand China's market for American semiconductor companies. We are looking forward to reviewing the package announced today in its' entirety as soon as the details are released," said SIA President George Scalise. "The preliminary details released in April of this year indicated a very strong accession package that would be of great benefit to America's high technology manufacturers - it was a testament to the hard work USTR has put into reaching a deal that will truly help U.S. businesses," Scalise added.

In the next decade, China is expected to become one of the largest semiconductor markets in the world. China is currently estimated to be an $8 billion semiconductor market. In part, the growth of the Chinese semiconductor market in recent years can be attributed to Chinese government reforms to open the Chinese market to increase international trade and investment. For instance, Chinese tariffs on semiconductors, which were as high as 20 percent in 1995, have been reduced to 6-10 percent. This partial opening of the Chinese market has allowed a domestic information technology industry to develop as advanced components have become available to Chinese producers at cheaper prices.

Continued liberalization of Chinese trade and investment rules would further permit growth in the Chinese market for semiconductors, to the mutual benefit of U.S. semiconductor producers and the Chinese information technology industry.

"We highly commend the Administration's efforts and progress and strongly support China's WTO accession on commercially viable terms," said Scalise. "While we still need to see the details of China's accession, its importance cannot be overstated. Bringing China into the rules based world trading system is vital to America's interest and is extremely important for China as well."

The SIA is the leading voice for the semiconductor industry and has represented US -based manufacturers since 1977. SIA member companies comprise more than 90 percent of US based semiconductor production. Collectively, the chip industry employs a domestic workforce of 276,000 people.