WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- The United States and China have resolved a World Trade Organization spat over semiconductors, the U.S. trade representative said Thursday.
The resolution will benefit U.S. high-tech manufacturers by ensuring full market access and national treatment for U.S. integrated circuits in China, the world's fastest-growing semiconductor market, said U.S. Trade Representative, Robert B. Zoellick.
The agreement resolves the first WTO case filed against China by any WTO member.
Under China's tax policy, U.S. exporters of integrated circuits to China paid up to five times as much tax as local Chinese manufacturers. These policies disadvantaged U.S. manufacturers as well as U.S. firms that design integrated circuits, Zoellick said.
As a result of the refund policy, the effective value-added tax on domestic products can be as low as 3 percent, compared to 17 percent for U.S. exporters.
"Today's agreement ... will ensure that our high-tech firms have full access to one of our fastest growing markets," Zoellick said. U.S. exports of integrated circuits to China accounted for $2.02 billion in 2003.
