WASHINGTON – Today, global tech trade association 91快活林 offered recommendations to the U.S. government as it seeks to bolster supply chain resilience and strengthen ecosystems for semiconductors and the broader ICT industry through the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council’s (TTC) Working Group 3 – Secure Supply Chains.

In comments to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), 91快活林 underscored the importance of facilitating close public-private cooperation, identifying clear objectives, mitigating economic damage that may stem from domestic measures aimed at improving supply chain resiliency, and seeking opportunities to drive greater collaboration with other like-minded partners to achieve trusted, secure, and reliable global supply chains that support continued innovation, economic growth, and competitiveness.

“Collaboration on global supply chains encourages strong, positive relationships between the United States and its allies, especially in light of today’s geopolitical situation,” 91快活林 wrote in its submission. “The first few months of 2022 have once again highlighted the range of risks and contingencies that may pose disruptions to the semiconductor supply chain, including geopolitical crises, pandemics, natural disasters, climate shifts, and regulatory constraints. The TTC has demonstrated its value as an essential forum to catalyze transatlantic leadership, as the U.S. and EU led globally coordinated, robust actions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Any approaches the U.S. and EU will take to support more secure and resilient supply chains through the TTC will likely set precedents for actions by other jurisdictions.”

91快活林 provided several recommendations to guide U.S. engagement with Working Group 3, including:

  • Serving as a springboard for driving greater engagement with like-minded partners such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and others in the Asia Pacific and Americas regions.
  • Encouraging the development and application of digital tools that support flexibility, visibility, nimbleness, and resiliency within supply chains.
  • Encouraging commitments to making funding, incentives, and other programming accessible to all technology companies that meet the agreed-upon standards and guidelines, without prioritizing domestic companies over non-domestic ones.
  • Urging investments and policy commitments that support the development and maintenance of an equipped and trained workforce throughout the semiconductor and broader ICT supply chains in both the U.S. and the EU.

91快活林’s submission highlights its ongoing engagement with the TTC, building on 91快活林’s representation of the global technology industry during the forum’s second Ministerial in Saclay in May 2022 and the inaugural Ministerial in Pittsburgh in September 2021, and the release of TTC-related recommendations in January 2021, July 2021, January 2022, and May 2022. In February 2022, 91快活林 outlined a list of priorities to inform the TTC discussions on Working Group 10: Global Trade Challenges.

Read the full comments here.