Semiconductor Council Promote cooperation on trade

07/01/1997

Semiconductor Council promotes cooperation on trade

Last August, the Semiconductor Council was created as part of the industry and government trade agreements that were approved by US and Japanese negotiators. This spring, joined by Europe and Korea, the Council held its first meeting and agreed to launch new cooperative programs to boost foreign trade. The Council released a joint statement, dated April 11, 1997, describing its priorities and project:

JOINT STATEMENT

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) of the US, the European Electronic Component Manufacturers Association (EECA), the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA), and the Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ) held the inaugural meeting of the Semiconductor Council in Oahu, Hawaii. The Council was created pursuant to the Agreement Between EIAJ and SIA on International Cooperation Regarding Semiconductors of August 2, 1996.

The Council`s purpose is to enhance mutual understanding, address market access matters, promote cooperative industry activities, and expand international cooperation in the semiconductor sector in order to facilitate the healthy growth of the industry from a long-term, global perspective. All Council activities will be based on a respect for market principles. Markets should be open and competitive, free of all tariff barriers, without discrimination based on capital affiliation, and with purchasing decisions based on quality, cost, delivery, and service.

The Council meeting held today demonstrates that the semiconductor industry is shifting from confrontation to competition and harmony based on a global point of view and comes as 1997 is marked as the 50th anniversary of the transistor`s invention.

The meeting was hosted by EIAJ... . The following actions were confirmed:

New membership. The Council members agreed to welcome additional semiconductor industry associations from significant semiconductor producing countries into the Council upon their meeting all of the requirements for membership, including expeditious elimination of semiconductor tariffs.

User/supplier cooperation. Members of the Council recognized continuation of mutually agreed upon cooperative activities in the Japanese market by the participating industry associations, such as seminars, exhibitions, one-on-one meetings, and the like. The industries believe that these activities will help users find new opportunities to work with foreign suppliers to develop new markets and new products, and will strengthen industry cooperation.

Confirmation was given to promotion of user/supplier cooperation through the hosting of a symposium in May [1997] in Tokyo and other initiatives to aid users` development of new markets and products, including another user/supplier seminar and exhibition in fall 1997 in Tokyo. Similarly, the industries believe that, in principle, cooperative activities involving users and suppliers should take place, if necessary and feasible, in every major region of the world.

Supplier/supplier cooperation. Standardization, environment and safety, intellectual property rights, liberalization of trade and investment, and market development were recognized as the issues on which there is shared common interest in the semiconductor industry. Specifically, the Council approved several actions:

Concerning standardization, a report was given on the recent international collaboration toward standardization of 300-mm wafers. Confirmation was given to active promotion of 300-mm wafer standardization. The Council agreed upon the importance of joint research and development efforts, including inter alia, the development of standards for the next generation manufacturing technology through international collaboration.

To exchange information on environmental safety and health (ESH), it was confirmed that the members will become actively involved in the fourth international ESH conference to be held in Milan, Italy in June [1997]. The industries also welcomed the voluntary action plans recently launched individually by the US and Japanese industries with regard to the reduction of PFCs, a substance that contributes to global warming.

To further cooperate in the area of ESH, the Council called for the study of the feasibility of additional ESH project-beyond the annual conferences, such as sharing ESH research data and cooperative activities aimed at achieving a cost-effective approach toward the reduction of PFC emissions.

The Council members agreed that they would urge their governments to pursue policies that promote free and open markets around the world, intellectual property protection, including vigorous action against fraudulent re-marking as an example, full transparency of governmental policies and regulations, nondiscrimination for foreign products in all markets, and an end to investment restrictions tied with technology transfer requirements around the world. In this regard, the Council affirmed that markets should be tariff-free, and encouraged countries that have not signed on to the Information Technology Agreement to do so.

Analysis of semiconductor market and trade flow data. The Council received and reviewed reports from industry experts on semiconductor market and trade flow data, including data on market size, market growth, and market shares of foreign semiconductor products in Council member markets and other major semiconductor markets. The reports, which will be submitted to Council member governments for their review, also included information on design-ins, international joint ventures, and the development of long-term and other cooperative relationships, as well as data prepared for the Council meeting and other published industry data.

Reports to governments. The results of today`s meeting will be submitted to the governments of members of the Council for use in the governmental consultations described in the Joint Statement by the Government of the United States and the Government of Japan Concerning Semiconductors dated August 2, 1996. This will include the following:

 reports on the semiconductor market and trade flow data prepared by industry experts,

 reports on the user/supplier cooperative activities,

 reports on the supplier/supplier cooperative activities, and

 recommendations of the Council with respect to government actions to promote liberal trade and investment policies as set forth above.

The next meeting of the Council will be hosted by the Semiconductor Industry Association in Tokyo in June 1998.

For more information, contact Jeff Weir at URL http://www.semichips.org.