SIA Milestones


1977 U.S. semiconductor industry pioneers form Semiconductor Industry Association.


The SIA takes over administration of the Semiconductor Trade Statistics Program (STSP), created earlier by Western Electronics Manufacturers Association in an effort to obtain more accurate market statistics for the semiconductor industry.


1978 Six major committees within the SIA are formed. Committees on trade policy, education, worker safety, trade statistic, and investment and capital formation, along with a technical advisory committee, constitute the key components of the early SIA program.


1980 The SIA commissions a major research study by Chase Financial Policy (a division of Chase Manhattan Bank) on the cost of capital in the semiconductor industry. The study finds US firms face significant disadvantages compared their international competitors in obtaining necessary capital.


The STSP is expanded to include all major European producers. The SIA initiates an annual survey of industry financial and operating performance.


1981 In response to SIA advocacy efforts, the US and Japan lower semiconductor tariffs to 4.2 percent.


The SIA helps gain approval of the federal R&D tax credit in an effort to encourage greater investment in the research-intensive semiconductor industry.


SIA code consultants and safety committees enact fire and building code initiatives to ensure that code modifications recognize the requirements of the semiconductor industry and incorporate state-of-the-art engineering techniques.


1982 SIA forms Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) to plan, direct and fund pre-competitive silicon research at American universities. The SRC becomes an independent affiliate of the SIA, comprised of eleven companies with an initial contribution of $3 million for research.


1983 SIA efforts lead to the creation of the US-Japan Working Group on High Technology, a bilateral government effort to address semiconductor trade conflicts.


The SIA Japan Chapter, made up of senior-level executives from SIA member companies doing business in Japan, companies.


1984 President Reagan signs the National Cooperative Research Act, encouraging joint R&D consortia such as SEMATECH by reforming US antitrust law.


The SIA-supported Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 becomes law, authorizing negotiation of high tech trade issues and tariff elimination.


The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act becomes law, creating the first new form of intellectual property protection in the United States since the 19th century. Japan, Europe and Korea follow with similar laws, providing chip design IP protection in all major markets.


is created to provide an industry-to-industry dialogue between Japanese and American


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