Blog

Blog: 10/16/15

Meet Leon Panetta At SIA’s Annual Award Dinner

by Semiconductor Industry Association

Leon Panetta has had one of the most consequential careers of any American public servant in the past fifty years serving as both the Director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense.  In his recently published book, Worthy Fights, Panetta recounts his storied career in public service and details his time at the Defense Department, […]

Blog: 10/09/15

The Critical Nexus Between Innovation and Basic Research for the Chip Industry

by Semiconductor Industry Association

A couple weeks ago, the New York Times ran a news story about the future of the semiconductor industry, Smaller, Faster, Cheaper, Over: The Future of Computer Chips (Sept 26, 2012). The premise of the article was that the guiding principle of Moore’s Law is slowing and that unless there are other breakthroughs in chip […]

Research
Blog: 10/09/15

Legislation to Protect Trade Secrets Would Strengthen Semiconductor Industry

by David Isaacs, Vice President, Government Affairs

SIA this week endorsed bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would strengthen the protection of trade secrets. The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015 (S.1890 and H.R. 3326) would create a federal civil cause of action that would empower U.S. companies to protect their trade secrets in federal court. The lead sponsors of the Senate bill, Sens. […]

Intellectual Property
Blog: 10/07/15

Congress Has Historic Opportunity to Modernize U.S. Chemicals Law

by David Isaacs, Vice President, Government Affairs

On Oct. 11, 1976, the primary federal law pertaining to federal oversight of the production and use of chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), was enacted. The law has not been updated since, and there is widespread consensus from a wide range of stakeholders that the law needs to be reformed. In the coming […]

Environment, Health & Safety
Blog: 10/02/15

MFG DAY 2015: Semiconductor Manufacturing Critical to America’s Strength, Competitiveness

by Dan Rosso, Senior Director, Communications

Today is National Manufacturing Day (MFG DAY), a time to highlight the strength and promise of American manufacturers and address the collective challenges they face. MFG DAY gives a unified voice to manufacturers across the United States and draws attention to the actions needed to ensure the future success of American manufacturing. There is no […]

Blog: 10/02/15

Dance on ITA “Staging” Begins

by John Neuffer, President and CEO

GENEVA – Negotiators working to expand product coverage of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) held a series of meetings this week here that amounted to an initial “show-and-tell” on how far they are willing to go when it comes to assigning specific timeframes for tariff elimination for the myriad tech products covered by the agreement. […]

Trade
Blog: 09/23/15

Global Industry Urges ITA Negotiators to Show Restraint on Staging

by Semiconductor Industry Association

Following the hard-fought agreement achieved in July on the product list to expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), negotiators will return to Geneva next week to sort through implementation timeframes for the 201 high-tech product lines to be covered by ITA expansion. These timeframes are known as “staging,” the periods over which tariffs are eliminated. […]

Trade
Blog: 09/18/15

SIA’s Dustin Todd to Serve as Chair of Task Force on American Innovation

by John Neuffer, President and CEO

Dustin Todd, director of government affairs at SIA, this week became co-chairman of the Task Force on American Innovation (TFAI), a coalition of U.S. companies, research universities, and scientific societies that promotes federal investments in scientific research. Dustin succeeds Texas Instruments’ Gene Irisari, who did a tremendous job advancing the coalition’s research priorities over the […]

Research
Blog: 08/27/15

SIA White Paper: Facts about Semiconductor Manufacturing

by Semiconductor Industry Association

A newly published SIA white paper affirms that U.S. semiconductor companies do the majority of their manufacturing in the United States, and semiconductors are one of America’s top manufactured exports, behind only aircraft and automobiles.

Domestic ManufacturingMarket Data
Blog: 08/26/15

Remembering Semiconductor Industry Leader Thomas Hinkelman, 1925-2015

by John Neuffer, President and CEO

SIA and the entire semiconductor community are deeply saddened by the recent passing of Thomas David Hinkelman, one of the first leaders of SIA and a true semiconductor industry champion. Tom served as SIA’s Executive Director from 1977-1985, helping guide the association and our industry through a period of great transition and growth. He later […]

Blog: 08/13/15

SIA White Paper: U.S. Semiconductor Industry is America’s Most Innovative Manufacturing Industry

by Semiconductor Industry Association

The U.S. semiconductor industry is America’s most innovative manufacturing industry and ranks near the top in terms of overall competitiveness, according to a newly published SIA white paper. Based in part on a methodology used by the United Nations to rank the economic competitiveness of nations, the white paper finds that the U.S. semiconductor industry ranks […]

Research
Blog: 08/06/15

The 2015 SIA Factbook: Your Source for Semiconductor Industry and Market Data

by Semiconductor Industry Association

What U.S. industry spends a higher share of sales on research and development than any other U.S. industry? What U.S. industry had a sales-revenue-per-employee ratio in 2014 of $667,000, the highest level in its history and among the highest of any U.S. industry? What U.S. industry directly employs a quarter of a million workers in […]

Market Data