Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) submitted comments to the Department of Commerce on a Section 232 investigation into imports of semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and derivative products.
CCIA offered recommendations for how the U.S. government could reconcile its legitimate national security concerns regarding advanced technologies with the realities of global semiconductor supply chains. Highlighting U.S. industries’ leading edge in advanced design and growing capacity in advanced manufacturing, CCIA recommended that the U.S. government narrow the scope of the investigation, and where possible, rely on existing mechanisms to shore up secure supply chains, including through domestic incentives for reshoring and cooperation with key partners and allies.
The following quote may be attributed to Jonathan McHale, Vice President of Digital Trade at CCIA:
“Dependencies on China for critical portions of the global semiconductor supply chain are a valid concern, but with significant sourcing coming from trusted partners, global tariffs and similar remedies could inflict a net harm: simply raising costs for U.S. users without a credible path towards sustainable reshoring makes little sense. Policy interventions to alter this highly-complex supply chain should not be rushed, and should rely on tested approaches that have shown positive results so far, including incentives for domestic manufacturers and close coordination with Taiwan, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, and the EU.”
