Public Policy
The SIA supports public policies that spur free competition, and economic growth. SIA also promotes policies that recognize the importance of semiconductors and advanced technology in an increasingly broad array of product lines - from PCs, advanced communication networks and sophisticated automotive systems, to medical devices and state-of-the art weapons systems.
In its report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm," the National Academies stated that "We fear the abruptness with which a lead in science and technology can be lost—and the difficulty of recovering a lead once lost, if indeed it can be regained at all." Maintaining U.S. leadership in semiconductors will take a concerted effort to fund basic research in our universities, build a workforce for the 21st century through a commitment to excellence in education and welcoming the world's brightest. In addition we must have a business climate that encourages investment and supports risk-taking.
The Power of America's Semiconductor Industry
U.S. Semiconductor Industry Drives Innovation to Meet America's Greatest Challenges
Semiconductors, the computational brains of every computer and electronic device, play a strategic role in America’s innovation economy. Rapid and reliable increases in semiconductor processing power spawn accelerated productivity gains across the entire U.S. economy. No other industry in the world comes close to such a high rate of productivity improvement.
U.S.-based semiconductor research and development (R&D) and manufacturing activities are a strategic national asset. They drive innovation into every sector of the U.S. economy and create new technology to solve America’s most pressing problems:
- Economic Recovery and Growth: Semiconductors drive innovation, productivity growth, economic growth and high-wage jobs creation and are America’s second largest export. The U.S. high-tech economy employs nearly 6 million Americans and pays wages that are 87 percent higher than average private-sector wages.
- Green Energy: Semiconductors underpin every key technology that will revolutionize how we generate, distribute, and consume energy. Semiconductor-based technology and innovation will transform America’s energy systems as profoundly as they have transformed American society through computers, the Internet and mobile communications.
- Broadband: Accelerating the rollout of broadband Internet service in underserved areas will open new business and employment opportunities across America.
- Education: Computers and information technology will help prepare students for the jobs of the 21st century.
- Health Care: Semiconductor-enabled technology will transform health care. The Rand Corporation estimates that using information technology in the health care sector could result in annual savings of $77 billion or more from efficiency alone.
SIA’s 2009 Policy Agenda
- Double our investment in basic research over the next 10 years.
- Enact tax policies that retain and attract semiconductor R&D and manufacturing investment in America and ensure that US companies are not disadvantaged against their foreign competitors in low tax countries.
- Provide incentives and adopt other policies to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy.
- Avoid policies that add costs, limit flexibility, and otherwise make U.S. companies less competitive.
- Enhance our workforce through education reform and modernization of the green card system.
Key Facts
- Semiconductor-enabled innovation accelerates U.S. productivity growth by 1.5 percent annually and knocks a full percentage point off of the U.S. inflation rate.
- The U.S. semiconductor industry is the world’s leader with $120 billion in sales (2008), nearly half the world market; Semiconductors are America’s second largest export.
- While 80 percent of their sales are outside of the U.S. market, 74 percent of worldwide wages and benefits are paid to American workers; 77 percent of their manufact-uring capacity and 75 percent of their R&D activities are located in the United States.
- It costs an estimated $1 billion more to build and operate a semiconductor manufacturing plant in the United States than in other parts of the world – 90 percent of the cost difference is the result of tax and incentive policies.
