Many Areas in ‘Great Need of Attention’ at WTO, Says SIA Policy Chief

Global trade rules “need to continue to evolve” under the Biden administration and new leadership at the World Trade Organization, blogged Semiconductor Industry Association Director-Global Policy Devi Keller Tuesday. U.S.-China trade tensions during the Trump administration “put into sharp relief the reality that we need stronger disciplines to tackle challenges related to state subsidies and state-owned enterprises,” she said. Cybersecurity barriers to trade, forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft are “other areas in great need of attention at the WTO and elsewhere,” she said. Washington policymakers also have the opportunity “to leverage trade policy to tackle large-scale global challenges,” like COVID-19, climate change and bridging the digital divide, said Keller. The pandemic “accentuated the importance of technology products to our societies,” she said. Tech devices “have kept people healthy, employed, and connected during this crisis,” she said. “Semiconductor innovation is the foundational technology for all these transformational products.”