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Blog: 12/10/15

China Kicks ITA Expansion Negotiations to Nairobi

by John Neuffer, President and CEO

After achieving significant progress this week to put the finishing touches on the three-year effort to expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), officials in Geneva were hoping the last big piece of the puzzle would fall into place today to get the negotiations completed before the WTO Ministerial Conference convenes in Nairobi next week. That […]

Trade
Blog: 11/24/15

SIA Welcomes Progress at U.S.-China Meeting on Semiconductor Issues

by Semiconductor Industry Association

SIA today welcomed commitments by the Chinese government to shed greater daylight on its ongoing efforts to significantly expand its indigenous semiconductor industry. During meetings of the U.S.-China Joint-Committee on Commerce & Trade (JCCT) this week, China said its semiconductor industry investments will be market-based and free from government intervention. The JCCT, which is led […]

Trade
Blog: 11/05/15

SIA Welcomes Release of Final Text of Trans-Pacific Partnership

by Semiconductor Industry Association

SIA today welcomed the public release of the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a landmark trade agreement that sets key parameters for trade in the digital economy of the 21st Century. The TPP has the potential to strengthen the U.S. semiconductor industry, the broader tech sector, and the global economy.

Trade
Blog: 11/02/15

Global Industry Reiterates Call for Restrained “Staging” for ITA Expansion

by Semiconductor Industry Association

In a strong statement released today, more than 80 associations from around the world have again weighed in urging parties negotiating expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) to implement their tariff elimination commitments as quickly as possible, showing restraint in their requests for extended “staging.” Parties will meet again the week of Nov. 9 in […]

Trade
Press Release: 10/05/15

SIA Applauds Landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

NEW RULES IN TPP WILL STRENGTHEN DIGITAL ECONOMY, PROMOTE SEMICONDUCTOR TRADE WASHINGTON—Oct. 5, 2015—The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today applauded the 12 countries involved in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks for concluding negotiations on this massive trade deal that will promote jobs and economic growth in the […]

Trade
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: 07/28/15

Thailand Gives ITA Expansion “Critical Mass”

by John Neuffer, President and CEO

Yesterday, we learned Taiwan had officially decided to support the product list to expand the scope of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA). Today, the good news keeps rolling in with Thailand now joining the larger group of negotiating parties to the agreement that finalized the list last Friday. With this, Thailand has delivered the all-important […]

Trade
Blog: 07/27/15

Another Good Day for Trade as Taiwan Gives Approval to ITA Expansion

by John Neuffer, President and CEO

Following the good news on Friday the product list to expand the scope of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) was formally approved in Geneva, Taiwan today has decided to climb on board to officially support the list and the accompanying declaration.

Trade
Blog: 07/24/15

A Good Day for Trade as ITA Expansion Rolls On

by John Neuffer, President and CEO

Following a tense, last-minute dust up, an agreement on the product list to expand the scope of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) won final approval today by all but a handful of the 54 countries involved in the talks during a meeting of ambassadors in Geneva. This is a decisive step forward in the hard-fought, […]

Trade
Blog: 07/18/15

It’s a Deal: ITA Negotiations on Track to Conclude on Friday

by John Neuffer, President and CEO

GENEVA – As negotiations to expand the product scope of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) got under way this morning, Geneva was cloaked in dreary, gray skies. But by this afternoon, the clouds had swept past, a brilliant sun emerged, and the ambassadors from the members of World Trade Organization (WTO) involved in the talks […]

Trade
Blog: 07/06/15

ITA Negotiations to Resume: Global Industry Strongly Presses for Conclusion Next Week

by John Neuffer, President and CEO

With negotiations to expand product coverage of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) finally back on track, global industry today issued an unambiguous call to the negotiating parties to reach agreement next week on the scope of products to be covered in this bold initiative. In a statement released today, more than 80 associations from around […]

Trade