Intel Among Tech Interests Arguing Against Chip Tariffs; IA Seeks to Testify at USTR
Intel opposes the proposed 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 duties on semiconductor imports from China, it said in comments posted Wednesday in docket USTR-2018-0018. Intel is one of many tech interests arguing this week for removing Chinese semiconductor imports…
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from the tariffs list because most semiconductors the U.S. imports are made in the U.S., shipped to China for final, low-end assembly, testing and packaging (ATP), and then shipped back to the U.S. “No rational U.S. semiconductor company is going to incur the very high costs and other risks raised by relocating an ATP facility in China with an already established ecosystem to a green field site in another country,” said Intel. It estimates it would cost $650 million to $875 million to move an ATP plant out of China. The Internet Association wants to testify at U.S. Trade Representative hearings Aug. 20-23 to urge removing 22 tariff lines “that cover products internet companies use to function on a daily basis,” said the company in a filing posted Thursday in docket USTR-2018-0026. IA wants excluded from proposed 10 percent tariffs “control or adapter units for automatic data processing machines” and other components. Imposing new duties on the 22 tariff lines“would not help to correct China's practices, but would cause disproportionate economic harm to American internet companies,” said the association. Friday is the deadline for requests to appear.