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Author(s)
Falan Yinug, Natalie Mabile
On June 22, 2011, the U.S. International Trade Commission hosted a roundtable discussion on high-technology trade and issues related to it. The roundtable drew participation from industry, government, and think tank representatives who provided their views on a number of current and future high-tech trade issues.
Author(s)
Alexander B. Hammer, Robert Koopman, Andrew Martinez
This section briefly surveys the magnitude and composition of recent U.S. exports of ATPs to China and examines how such exports differ from U.S. ATP exports to the rest of the world (ROW), and the size and composition of Chinese exports of ATPs to the United States and illustrates how they differ from Chinese ATP exports to ROW.
Author(s)
Huang Xianhai, Yang Gaoju, Lu Jing
Using the opto-mechatronics industry cluster of Pinghu, China, as a case study, this paper analyzes the international specialization status of China’s advanced-technology industry. Our research indicates that Pinghu’s industry cluster follows an exogenous industry cluster development model, which is typical of China’s advanced technology industries. In this model, government-guided foreign investment comes to a region first and generates learning spillovers for local enterprises, enabling the government to create a public platform for technology innovation. Foreign-owned and local private companies then work together to promote the further development of industry clusters. True to this model, the initial driving force behind the opto-mechatronics industry was the Chinese government, with foreign investment as its engine; then followed the public technology platform and supporting industries. Our study, based on interviews with industry personnel, also indicates that the performance of Pinghu’s opto-mechatronics industry exceeds the national average and that Pinghu is becoming more like an endogenous cluster over time—more market-oriented and increasingly reliant on domestic factors. However, its average value-added ratio was relatively low; imported intermediate inputs still constitute a large share of the value of manufactured output. Thus, although Pinghu’s opto-mechatronics industry enjoys a leading position in China, it remains largely concentrated on processing and assembly, which is at the low-skill-intensive end of the production chain.
Author(s)
Michael Anderson, Jacob Mohs
The Information Technology Agreement (ITA), a multilateral agreement emerging from the Uruguay Round, eliminates tariffs on specific technology and telecommunications products for member countries. Primary goals of the ITA are increased trade and competition through trade liberalization for information technology (IT) products, and the global diffusion of information technology. The ITA went into effect in 1997 with 29 WTO member countries and now includes 72 WTO members. It covers over 95 percent of total world trade in IT products, currently estimated at $4 trillion annually. The emergence of complex global supply chains for IT products, rapid deployment of new technologies, and technology convergence since the ITA’s inception, shine new light on the role of the ITA in global trade. This paper provides an overview of the ITA, describes the level of tariff liberalization associated with membership, and discusses the changing composition of ITA membership. The paper further examines ITA trade between 1996 and 2008, highlighting the changing composition of trade by leading exporting and importing nations and profiles ITA trade by product segment, focusing on computers, semiconductors, and telecommunications equipment. The paper finds a significant shift in ITA trade to Asia, particularly China, and to a lesser extent to Eastern Europe. Significant developments in global ITA trade include, increasing diversification of ITA members’ trade and economic profiles and expanding trade participation by developing countries.
Author(s)
Greg Linden, Jason Dedrick, Kenneth L. Kraemer
Globalization skeptics argue that the benefits of globalization, such as lower consumer prices, are outweighed by job losses, lower earnings for U.S. workers, and a potential loss of technology to foreign rivals. To shed light on the jobs issue, we analyze the iPod, which is manufactured offshore using mostly foreign-made components. In terms of headcount, we estimate that, in 2006, the iPod supported nearly twice as many jobs offshore as in the United States. Yet the total wages paid in the United States amounted to more than twice as much as those paid overseas. Driving this result is the fact that Apple keeps most of its research and development (R&D) and corporate support functions in the United States, providing thousands of high-paid professional and engineering jobs that can be attributed to the success of the iPod. This case provides evidence that innovation by a U.S. company at the head of a global value chain can benefit both the company and U.S. workers.
Author(s)
Falan Yinug
This article seeks to explain the limited level of high-tech semiconductor production by foreign investors in China. First, the article briefly summarizes the evolution and current state of China’s policy efforts to promote foreign investment in its semiconductor industry. Second, the article shows that foreign front-end semiconductor production in China remains relatively small, despite the lure of the government’s promotional policies and the fact that China is the world’s largest market. The article concludes by identifying two major factors discouraging foreign front-end semiconductor production in China: (1) China’s uncertain business environment for front-end semiconductor production, punctuated by lax intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement; and (2) restrictive investment and export control policies by foreign governments.
Author(s)
Falan Yinug
This article addresses three questions about the flash memory market. First, will the growth of the flash memory market be a short- or long-term phenomenon? Second, will the growth of the flash memory market prompt changes in firm behavior and industry structure? Third, what are the implications for global semiconductor trade patterns of flash memory market growth? The analysis concludes that flash memory market growth is a long-term phenomenon to which producers have responded in four distinct ways. It also concludes that the rise in flash memory demand has intensified current semiconductor trade patterns but has not shifted them fundamentally.