AMD Applauds Agreement To Eliminate Duties On Multi-Chip Package (MCP) Semiconductors

AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced support for the draft agreement finalized at the Governments/Authorities Meeting on semiconductors (GAMS) in Seoul, Korea that is intended to eliminate duties on multi-chip package integrated circuits beginning on January 1, 2006. MCPs combine multiple pieces of silicon within a single package, and are used in a variety of products from cell phones to personal digital assistants.

“Free and open trade and competition are vital to ensure the power and benefits of information technology are broadly available to consumers around the world,” said Hector Ruiz, AMD chairman, president, and CEO. “We congratulate Ambassador Portman and his United States Trade Representative team on the MCP agreement, which helps maintain open markets for semiconductor products.”

Semiconductors are covered by the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and thus are duty-free in much of the world. However, an evolution in the packaging of certain semiconductor devices allowed for the inclusion of more than one silicon chip inside each package. This technological advance resulted in a classification of MCPs by certain customs authorities into a category that was no longer duty-free. As a result of the reclassification, the U.S., Korea, and European Union imposed duties on these semiconductor products.

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