Amid the US's strategy to rebuild a global supply chain that counts on friendshoring, the US will scale up its semiconductor collaboration with India and invite India to be part of the IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework).
According to multiple reports that include Reuters and Hindustan Times, US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo said the US and India would sign an MoU on semiconductors during her four-day trip to India.
Raimondo said that the US would like to see India achieve its aspirations to play a larger role in the electronic supply chain. As the two countries announced their respective incentive programs for the semiconductor industry, they talked about policy coordination, including transparency, information-sharing, preventing over-subsidizing and a glut of certain kinds of chips, jointly mapping supply chains, and alignments based on the demands for semiconductors.
Raimondo further said that the US and India would look for opportunities for joint ventures, technology partnerships, job training, and R&D partnerships.
The US and India have launched the India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue, which will address issues including export controls, high-tech commerce, and facilitating technology transfer between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Raimondo said she is hopeful that India will eventually join the IPEF, adding that the US expects to have the supply chain, infrastructure, and tax and anti-corruption pillars signed up by the end of the year.
The upcoming MoU and the India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue came on the heels of similar developments that include the forming of a task force between SIA (US Semiconductor Industry Association) and IESA (India Electronics and Semiconductor Association) announced in January, and the iCET (the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology) unveiled in February, which are part of the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative by the Quad with members including Australia, India, Japan, and the US.
The US commerce department is spearheading initiatives, such as the US$52-billion CHIPS and Science Act and the Department of Commerce's Entity List against Chinese companies, to encourage on-shoring and friendshoring efforts amid containment of China by the US.
