San Jose, CA. SEMI on Friday announced it welcomed news out of Geneva on a plan to expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and begin negotiations to finalize the deal. Following a multiyear effort on behalf of global information and communication technology industries, a meaningful agreement now appears within reach, the organization said.
SEMI worked with a host of industry and government officials in an effort to expand the original agreement, which first created free trade among tech products in 1996. This new deal stands to modernize and broaden an accord that now accounts for 97% of global trade for tech. ITA expansion will greatly improve the way many leading semiconductor equipment manufacturing (SEM) companies do business.
Trade negotiators from more than 50 countries came to a consensus on an array of products that includes machines and apparatus to manufacture boules, wafers, semiconductor devices, and flat-panel displays, among other products of interest to SEMI members. Pending domestic reviews, the international agreement is expected to be ratified by the end of the year with tariff elimination slated to begin July 2016.
“Today’s approval of a final ITA product list is a significant victory for the industry,” said SEMI CEO Denny McGuirk. “High-tech manufacturers have long sought to liberalize trade for innovative products, and an expanded ITA will go a long way to alleviate global barriers. We commend the work of the trade ministers and WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo for their persistent work on this important initiative.”
Following Friday’s agreement-in-principle, negotiators will resume consultations aimed at finalizing the deal—estimated to be worth $1 trillion in annual global trade. SEMI will continue to work closely with negotiators throughout the process to ensure an effective outcome for the SEM industries.
SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronic manufacturing supply chains. It has 1,900 member companies. Since 1970, SEMI has been committed to helping members grow more profitably, create new markets and meet common industry challenges. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.
