USMCA Implementation is a Milestone for Global Technology Trade
By Devi Keller, Director. Global Policy, SIA
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) entered into force July 1, marking a milestone in the advancement of America’s global technology trade leadership. The agreement will help strengthen the digital economy, promote semiconductor industry trade priorities, and benefit U.S. companies and consumers alike.
The USMCA is the first U.S. agreement to incorporate several top U.S. semiconductor industry priorities, including new disciplines to ensure market access for innovative encryption products, increased safeguards and penalties to protect trade secrets, new rules to ensure state-owned enterprises compete fairly and transparently, and prohibition of forced transfer of source code.
Free, fair, and open access to global markets is vital to the success of the U.S. semiconductor industry, America’s fifth-largest export industry and a critical driver of the nation’s economy and technological leadership. With the industry facing increasing discriminatory and market-distorting industrial policies around the world – including massive government subsidies, IP theft, and forced tech transfer – the USMCA provides a critical opportunity to strengthen U.S. trade leadership by establishing new and higher-standard digital and high-tech trade disciplines.
Canada and Mexico represent strong trading partners in semiconductors and are also critical players in the semiconductor supply chain. The U.S. has strong semiconductor trade surpluses with both Mexico and Canada at $6.77 billion and $1 billion, respectively.
Implementation of the USMCA today will help ensure more products researched, designed, and made in America – including semiconductors – can flow to customers around the world.
The full text of the agreement can be found here. Previous SIA submissions on the importance of the USMCA to our industry can be found here.
