Under the agreement, Atmel will acquire specific manufacturing assets including a fab mothballed in 1998, and some equipment in North Tyneside, England. The company will install CMOS, BiCMOS, and silicon germanium process technology in the new fab, and also manufacture .18 micron 8-inch wafers for non-volatile memory and microcontroller products. This will facilitate the appropriate manufacturing infrastructure and production output to support the Siemens requirement, according to the companies.

Washington, D.C–September 20, 2000–The U.S. Senate’s Sept. 19 passage of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) for China will result in a dramatic reduction of industrial tariffs on U.S. products from an average of 24.6% in 1997 to an average of 9.4% by 2005, according to a White House statement. This drop in Chinese tariffs is good news for U.S. high-tech manufacturers and basic industries.