ANIIndia and the United States of America are looking at both near-term commercial opportunities and longer-term strategic objectives in the semiconductor space, US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo said on Thursday.
The countries will hold formal deliberations on Friday to bolster cooperation on a wide gamut of policies and activities relating to semiconductor, including diversifying the supply chain, reducing over-reliance on certain destinations, and ensuring greater coordination to implement their proposed programmes to incentivise chip making, she stated.
“…this is not a one-year collaboration. We think this is a 5-10-20-year collaboration,” Raimondo, who is on a visit to India, said in a telephonic press briefing. Separately, at a fire-side chat earlier in the day, the US commerce secretary expressed optimism that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) will prove to be “more economically impactful” than a free trade agreement (FTA) with India.
A trade pact with New Delhi is not on the table now and the US Congress has stated that there is no appetite for an FTA with any partner, she indicated.
Air India’s recent orders for hundreds of aircraft from Boeing, she believes, will pave the way for more such deals with India.
IPEF was launched in May last year by the US, India and 12 other countries in the Indo-Pacific region that together account for over 40% of the global GDP and 28% of the world’s goods and services trade. It is being viewed by analysts as a mechanism to counter non-transparent trade and economic policies of China.
The IPEF framework comprises four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy (issues like tax and anticorruption). New Delhi has joined three of the four pillars, barring the one on trade.
Raimondo exuded optimism about getting all partners to conclude agreements on all four IPEF pillars by the end of this year. Raimondo said India, which has a stable business environment, would gain from the US companies that are looking to diversify their supply sources.
The US, which is overly dependent on Taiwan for chip supplies, is looking to work closely with India and allies in Europe to avoid a subsidy race for chip making and secure its supply chains, she suggested. Commenting on challenges, Raimondo flagged India’s “quite high” tariffs on certain components for semiconductors or other electronic products, difficult foreign investment rules in certain sectors, and differences in state-level regulations.
A proposed MoU (memorandum of understanding) on semiconductors between India and the US, she said, talks about information sharing and regular dialogue on policies that would encourage private investments. Both the countries will explore opportunities for JVs or tech partnership, among others, she said.
Source: indiatimes.com
